Updated: July 27, 2021

In recent days, and despite the high rate of vaccinations in Israel, there has been a resurgence of COVID-19 transmissions in Israel, stemming from the Delta Variant. In response, the Ministry of Health has restored the obligation to wear facemasks in indoor locations and is considering limitations on entry to certain venues for only vaccinated or recovered from COVID-19 individuals. The list of countries that Israelis cannot travel to is begin updated and additional restrictions and regulations at the airport are being considered. Onward Israel obliges all of its participants to wear masks at indoor activities and is now limiting participation in future programs to only vaccinated and COVID-19 recovered participants.

Today, the US Embassy in Israel published a Level 3 Health notice about travel to Israel. It can be found here:

https://il.usembassy.gov/covid-19-information/

Onward Israel’s policy is to allow early departure from our 2021 summer programs  because of anxiety or worries connected to COVID-19. In such cases there is no financial penalties for participants, although costs connected with changes to flight tickets as well as the required PCR test within 72 hours of departure remains the responsibility of each participant.

Onward Israel remains steadfastly committed to providing a meaningful, impactful, summer experience to each and every participant on all of our summer 2021 programs. We have planned the summer with the well-being of our participants as a cardinal concern.

If you have any other questions, please contact us at inquiries@onwardisrael.org and visit our website periodically for important updates.

Updated July 19, 2021

On May 20^th, a cease fire went to effect on Israel’s southern border with the Gaza Strip. The cease fire has been upheld since then. Due to the complexity and dynamism of the issues involved we are carefully monitoring the situation on a daily basis, and making any adjustments to our programs due to changes in the security situation.

In general, we prioritize the safety, health and security of our participants while also striving to facilitate their immersion into Israeli life and society and their exploration of the country, as key elements of the Onward Israel Experience.

Our security protocols rest on the following important elements:

1. All participants receive a detailed safety and security orientation at the very beginning of the program. This orientation is repeated as a refresher during the program itself. This orientation also includes training about how to use conduct oneself in public spaces if there is an air raid siren
2. All housing units have immediate and quick access to safe spaces in the event of air raid sirens. These spaces include “safe rooms” within apartments, shelters or reinforced stairwells
3. Participants are shown these spaces and taken to them physically as part of the safety and security orientation
4. The initial orientation at each internship site includes learning about and practicing access to the safe space at the worksite
5. All educational trips and activity are vetted on the day of implementation by the Israeli Ministry of Education’s “Moked Teva”- which approves every itinerary based on updated security developments and dictates what additional security measures must be taken for each itinerary, if applicable
6. All participants are part of a Whattsapp group, run by their group counselor, through which all pertinent security information is clearly communicated to participants.  In addition, participants are part of a wider Onward Israel Whattsapp group as an additional source of information
7. Onward Israel is in daily coordination with Masa Israel Journey, The Jewish Agency for Israel and Birthright Israel for safety and security updates
8. Participants are instructed to share individual travel plans with their program staff in order to get directions about safe and secure ways to travel in their free time
9. Please see our “Contact Us” page should you have additional questions. We are happy to answer further questions (including those security related), however, ask that you direct non-emergency inquiries or those in regard to participants who are not currently in Israel to our general inquiries phone line and email address. While these avenues are only staffed during North American working hours, we will do our best to respond as quickly as possible. We have an Emergency Helpline available for urgent/immediate problems related to participants who are currently in Israel.