The Israeli passport (Hebrew: דַּרְכּוֹן יִשְׂרְאֵלִיDárkōn Yīśreʾēli; Arabic: جواز سفر إسرائيليJawāz Safar Isrāʾīlī) is the travel document issued to citizens of the State of Israel for the purpose of international travel.[3] It grants the bearer visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 170 countries and territories, where they are entitled to the protection of Israeli consular officials.
Although Israelis are allowed multiple citizenship, a government regulation[specify] from 2002 forbids them from using foreign passports when entering or leaving Israeli territory. Holders of the Israeli passport—or, in some cases, a foreign passport that has been used to enter Israel—are entirely prohibited from entering sixteen countries; this restriction includes the country's Arab or Palestinian citizens of Israel.
The first Israeli travel documents bore the limitation: "Valid to any country except Germany." An Israeli who wished to visit Germany had to ask that the words "except Germany" be deleted from their passport. This was done manually by drawing a line through these words.[6] After the signing of the Reparations Agreement between Israel and West Germany in 1952, the limitation was withdrawn and passports became "valid to all countries".
1980–present
Israeli passports issued after 30 March 1980 have used Hebrew and English texts, instead of the previous Hebrew and French.
In 2006, an Israeli passport became an accepted form of identification in elections in Israel. Previously, only an internal identity card was accepted for this purpose.
Since 2013, biometric passports have been introduced, in line with standards used by the United States, European Union and other countries. To obtain a biometric passport, an applicant must appear in an Interior Ministry office "to be photographed by the special camera which records information such as facial bone structure, distance between one's eyes, ears to eyes and ratio of facial features one from another. One will also be fingerprinted and all this information will be contained in the new high-tech electronic passport."[7] It was reported that the border control representatives tore non-biometric passports of Israeli citizens.[8]
Physical appearance
Front cover of a non-biometric Israeli passport (revoked document with clipped corners), 2008Personal data page on a non-biometric Israeli passport, 2006
Colour, language, and symbols
The current passport is navy blue and has the Israeli national emblem in the centre of the front cover, below the inscriptions "מדינת ישראל" and "STATE OF ISRAEL" in Hebrew and English, respectively. The words "דרכון" and "PASSPORT" are inscribed below the emblem, and the biometric symbol is inscribed at the bottom. Following the national emblem's theme, the passport's inner pages are decorated with olive branches and the temple menorah. The regular passport contains 32 pages and the business passport contains 64 pages.
Israeli passports are valid for up to a maximum of 10 years for all citizens aged 18 or older. Although they are written in both Hebrew and English, the direction of the page order (right-to-left) is dictated by Hebrew. Hebrew is the sole official language in Israel and the Israeli government recognizes Arabic as having a non-official special status in the country, but it is not used on passports. However, Israeli identity cards are co-written in Arabic.
Declaration of freedom of movement
There is a declaration from the Ministry of Interior written in Hebrew and English on the passport:
שר הפנים של מדינת ישראל מבקש בזה את כל הנוגעים בדבר להרשות לנושא דרכון זה לעבור ללא עכוב והפרעה ולהושיט לו במקרה הצורך את ההגנה והעזרה הדרושה.
The Minister of the Interior of the State of Israel hereby requests all those whom it may concern to allow the bearer of this passport to pass freely without let or hindrance and to afford him such assistance and protection as may be necessary.
Property advisory information
On the back cover of the passport, there is a government advisory written only in Hebrew (English translation below):
דרכון זה הוא קניינה של מדינת ישראל והינו מסמך בעל ערך שיש לשמור עליו בקפדנות. אסור להוסיף, למחוק פרט כלשהו בדרכון, לתלוש דף או דפים ממנו, להשמיד או להשחית את הדרכון. החוק קובע שהמבצע פעולה כזו וכן מי שמשתמש שלא כחוק בדרכון שאינו שלו או מניח לאדם אחר להשתמש שלא כחוק בדרכונו, עובר עבירה פלילית ועלול להיענש.
אזרח ישראלי שהוא גם אזרח חוץ ובעל דרכון זר חייב להיכנס לישראל ולצאת ממנה בדרכון או בתעודת מעבר ישראליים.
במקרה של אובדן גניבת הדרכון בארץ, על בעל הדרכון להודיע על כך מיד ללשכת רשות האוכלוסין באיזור מגוריו. אבד או נגנב הדרכון בחו"ל, יש למסור הודעה על כך לשגרירות או לקונסוליה הישראלית הקרובה למקום הימצאו.
שמור היטב על דרכונך לבל יאבד. בעת השימוש בו, יש להחזיקו בכיס פנימי ובטוח של בגדיך ולא בתיק או במכונית. ביציאתך לחו"ל מומלץ להצטייד בצילום של דף הפרטים.
הדרכון תקף לכל הארצות (אלא אם צוין אחרת) עד לתאריך הרשום בעמוד 2. לאחר תום התוקף, או אם הדרכון נתמלא או נתבלה יש להחליפו בחדש.
לתשומת לבך!!! דרכון זה מכיל מעגלים אלקטרוניים רגישים. לתפקוד מיטבי של מעגלים אלה, נא לא לקפל, לנקב ו/או לחשוף את הדרכון לטמפרטורות גבוהות ו/או ללחות מופרזת.
This passport is the property of the State of Israel and is a valuable document which must be preserved carefully. Do not add or delete any information in the passport, tear out a page or pages from it, or destroy or corrupt the passport. The law states that the perpetrator of such action and who uses an illegal passport that is not his or lets anyone else use his passport illegally, has committed an offense and is liable to be punished.
An Israeli citizen who is also a foreign citizen and holds a foreign passport must enter and exit Israel with an Israeli passport or travel document.
In the case of loss or theft of the passport in Israel, the nearest Population Office must be immediately notified. If the passport is lost or stolen overseas, the nearest Israeli embassy or consulate must be notified.
Be careful not to lose your passport. When you use it, keep it secured inside the pocket of your clothes and not in your bag or car. When you travel abroad, it is recommended to bring a photocopy of the information page.
The passport is valid for all countries (unless otherwise noted) until the date listed on page 2. After expiration, or if your passport has worn thin or is filled, it must be replaced with a new one.
Attention!!! This passport contains sensitive electronic circuits. For optimal functioning of these circuits, please do not fold, puncture and/or expose your passport to high temperatures and/or excessive moisture.
Personal data page
An Israeli passport holder's personal data can be found on page 2, and includes the following:
Authority (- I.C. Passport at) סמכות (- ממונה דרכונים ב)
Signature of bearer (in biometric passport) חתימת בעל הדרכון
All of the holder's information appears in Hebrew and English, and the page ends with the Machine Readable Zone. In non-biometric passports, the bearer signature follows on page 3.
Israel may issue a travel document (Hebrew: תעודת מעברTeudat Ma'avar)[9] to a person who does not have any passport or to a new Israeli citizen (ole/ola hadash). It may be issued in the following circumstances:
to a non-Israeli resident or foreigner who does not have another passport or defined citizenship (i.e., a stateless person), allowing them to leave the country. Examples include cases of foreigners who have infiltrated Israel illegally and are due to be deported, or foreigners who need to leave the country for any other reason and are unable to obtain a passport from another country;
to Israeli citizens in lieu of a passport, such as for those who lost their passport(s) overseas.
While the State of Israel does not guarantee visa-free entrance to relevant countries with the travel document, in fact, all of the Schengen Zone countries (except for Malta[10]), as well as many other countries like Japan, South Korea and others[11] do recognize it for visa-free travel, if the holder of the document is an Israeli citizen. The travel document in lieu of national passport has document code 'PP', which stands for 'provisional passport'. That effectively means the document has the status of the passport.
For non-citizen Arabs
A special travel document (Hebrew: תעודת מעבר ישראלית לזריםTeudat Ma'avar Israelit Lezarim)[12] may be issued to the Arab residents of East Jerusalem who do not hold pre-1967 Jordanian citizenship, and to Arab residents of the Golan Heights who do not hold Israeli citizenship.
A new immigrant to Israel acquires Israeli nationality immediately when issued with a certificate of immigration (תעודת עולה teudat oleh) upon their arrival in the country, but this nationality may be waived with retroactive effect to the moment the certificate of immigration was issued if such an application is filed with the Interior Ministry within 90 days of the issuance of the certificate of immigration. During these 90 days, a new immigrant cannot apply for an Israeli passport or travel document unless they file a waiver of the right to waive the automatic acquisition of Israeli nationality. A new immigrant cannot get an Israeli passport until they have resided in Israel for a period of at least a year following their immigration;[15]
Foreigners or stateless residents, and refugees;
Israeli citizens with a criminal record;
Israeli citizens who have lost or destroyed over three passports;
Israeli citizens who have lost their passport during an overseas trip;
Israeli citizens who are returning to Israel by the decision of the Israeli government.
They are typically valid for two years,[16] and not for more than five years. The issuance of travel documents instead of passports became prevalent in the 1990s, as the Israeli government prepared a national response to a wave of Russian organized crime gangs who had begun using Israeli passports for their activities globally.[17]
Travel banned by the Israel government due to safety concerns or admission refused
According to the 2018 Henley Passport Index, Israeli citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 161 countries and territories, ranking the Israeli passport 21st in the world in terms of travel freedom (tied with the Barbadian passport and the Emirati passport).[18] Additionally, Arton Capital's Passport Index ranked the Israeli passport 16th in the world in terms of travel freedom, with a visa-free score of 146, as of 2 December 2018.[19]
Countries that reject Israeli passports and non-Israeli passports that have a used/unused Israeli visa stamp or have been used for any form of travel to Israel*
As of 2023[update], 28 countries do not recognize Israel's sovereignty. 25 of these are Muslim-majority countries, of which 17 explicitly do not process Israeli passport holders, and a further six of those 17 do not admit entry to non-Israelis with any sort of ties to Israel. These 17 countries are:
E: Since 2020, except for religious purposes (for Israeli Muslims) and business purposes (for other Israelis)
The aforementioned six countries—Iran,[36] Kuwait,[37] Lebanon,[38] Libya,[39] Syria[40] and Yemen[41]—do not allow entry to non-Israelis with evidence of travel to Israel, or whose passports have a used or unused Israeli visa.
Consequently, many countries may issue a second passport to citizens wishing to circumvent this restriction, and the Israeli immigration services have now mostly ceased stamping entry or exit stamps in all Israeli and non-Israeli passports.[42]
Gallery
An example of Israel's first travel document, dating from December 1948.
Example of an early Israeli diplomatic passport, 1951
An example of an early Israeli service passport, 1951 for MK Dayan.
Israeli Diplomatic Passport No. 1, belonging to Chaim Weizmann.
1950 Israel travel identity document issued to those lacking an official passport.
An Israeli entry stamp in an Israeli non-biometric ordinary passport
^Amnon Dankner and David Tartakover, Where we were and what we did - an Israeli lexicon of the Fifties and the Sixties, Keter Publishing House, Jerusalem, p. 84 (in Hebrew).
^Zaitch, D.; Bunt, H.; Siegel, D. (2003), "Israel - The Promised Land for Russian-speaking Crime Bosses", Global Organized Crime: Trends and Developments (1st ed.), Netherlands: Springer, pp. 52–55
