US President George W. Bush is expected to sign legislation in the
coming days which would clear the way for Israelis to join America's visa
waiver program.
The provision, part of a recently passed homeland security bill, would not come into effect until other mechanisms tracking tourists in America are in place, meaning even with a presidential okay, the program could take more than a year to implement and would still be dependent on US agency approval.
But a major obstacle was clear last week when Congress voted to loosen restrictions governing which country's citizens can enter the US as tourists without applying for a visa.