Move is due to staff reductions at the embassy in light of the security situation. The US embassy in Tel Aviv is not issuing travel visas to Israelis until further notice except in emergency cases.
In a statement, the embassy said it is only issuing urgent visas, and applicants can email the embassy to see if their circumstances fit that definition. The cause of the delay is that the embassy has reduced its staff due to the security situation, and there are not enough employees to conduct the personal interview stage of the process.
The reduction is staff is a precaution during wartime, to reduce the number of those affected in case of a direct attack.
Even in emergency cases, the embassy said issuing a visa could take two to three days at least.
In a related development, there are reports that residents of countries like Ireland and China are having trouble getting travel visas to the US because of a problem with the US Immigration Authority`s database. Some observers have speculated that the problem resulted from an attack by hackers.
A week ago, the US State Department issued a travel warning to US citizens against travelling to Israel and the West Bank. Most other countries that issued travel warnings, including Japan and Australia, merely warned their citizens not to visit within 40 km of the border with Gaza, as well as not to visit Gaza City itself.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry has also issued a travel warning to Israelis who wish to visit Turkey, due to the tense atmosphere there since the beginning of Operation Protective Edge.
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