Israelis may travel to US without visas

By HILARY LEILA KRIEGER
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.