Israel plans talks on lifting visa regulations

The Israeli government plans to hold talks with Azerbaijan next year on canceling visa regulations. Discussions are expected to kick off after such regulations are cancelled between Israel and Russia starting on January 1, 2008, Israeli Knesset (parliament) member Joseph Shagal said.

He emphasized that the measure was promising for both countries in terms of considerable revenues from tourism.

“We are talking about a lot of money here, as well as opening jobs,” the lawmaker said.

According to estimates, visits by every 100,000 tourists lead to the opening of 10,000 jobs in the country. Tel-Aviv primarily cancels visa regulations with countries with the up-to-date security system and domestic stability, and considers Azerbaijan as such.

Israel is currently home to some 80,000 Jews who had moved from the South Caucasus republic, as well as over 15,000 Azerbaijanis. Lifting visa regulations will help them to travel to and from Azerbaijan more easily.*