Israel to ratify visa-free agreement with Russia by early
July

Israel will complete the ratification of an agreement with Russia on visa-free travel in
late June-early July, the Israeli interior minister said Thursday.

"The bill will be considered by the government, and is likely to be approved unanimously.
Then the document will be passed to the Knesset [parliament] commission on internal
affairs, where I believe there will also be no complications," Meir Sheetrit said.

Russia's ambassador to Israel said on Wednesday that an agreement on mutual visa-free
travel between Russia and Israel, signed on March 20, could come into force in late
summer or early fall.

"We hope the agreement on visa-free travel will become effective late this summer or in
early fall," Pyotr Stegny told a Russian-Israeli business forum in the Jewish capital. "I am
positive this will give a significant boost to the development of business ties between our
countries."

Russia has already completed all the formal procedures required for the agreement to
become law. The document will come into effect 90 days after being ratified by Israel's
parliament.

However, Israeli media earlier reported that Tel Aviv, which is keen to increase tourism
from Russia, could unilaterally scrap visa requirements for Russians after the deal has
been ratified without waiting for the end of the three-month period.

Analysts said visa-free travel between the two countries would be both economically
beneficial as well as logical. Immigrants from Russia and other former Soviet republics
account for over 1 million of Israel's 7 million citizens, meaning that visits to friends and
relatives are likely to rise dramatically.

More than 100,000 Russian tourists visited Israel last year.

Source: RIA NOVOSTI