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How strict are Israeli authorities about foreigners' passport validity? I've only found vaguely-worded recommendations about having a passport valid for at least 6 months when entering the country. But how much they really care? Moreover, will the upcoming ETA-IL scheme change the situation? For the record, the traveller is an EU national, and as such they can stay in Israel for up to 90 days without a visa (for tourism purposes).

EDIT: I found this question only after posting mine, but it's pretty old already...

EDIT 2: The traveller is a child (under 6) whose current passport is valid for only two years, as usual, expiring in May 2025. They turn 6 years old in August 2025. If I apply for a new passport for them before their 6th birthday, it'll be valid for only two years. If I apply after their 6th birthday, the passport will be valid for 5 years. I'd like to wait for the passport with longer validity, but at the same time, I'd like to travel somewhere in December / January.

UPDATE: I've checked the Timatic website via the Copa Air website, entering January 2, 2025 as a date of entry into Israel, and May 1, 2025 as the passport expiration date, and the result was OK.

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    How much risk do you want to take? The problem: if you encounter one strict person, you are out of luck. And you are asking for only few days differences or many more?
    – Giacomo Catenazzi
    Commented Aug 23 at 9:46
  • @GiacomoCatenazzi see the edit I made to the question explaining my rationale
    – Johnnyjanko
    Commented Aug 23 at 10:22
  • @Johnnyjanko What source are you looking at for the recommendations you refer to? Eg for Spanish citizens this page states a minimum validity of 6 months. You can check other EU countries’ advice here
    – Traveller
    Commented Aug 23 at 12:05
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    @Traveller Thanks, I'm not looking for official advice from any country (other than Israel). They tend to be too much on the safe side. I'm looking either for advice from someone with first-hand experience, or for an authoritave source from the Israeli government listing the entry requirements.
    – Johnnyjanko
    Commented Aug 23 at 12:11
  • I don't have a direct answer, but August to December is a decent amount of time. Could you apply for the passport on August 7 and pay for expedited handling? That'll likely be less than paying for the "extra" passport two years later, and could get you the 5-year passport well ahead of the trip.
    – yshavit
    Commented Aug 23 at 16:49

2 Answers 2

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The official requirement is 6 months beyond the intended stay in Israel:

The passport must be valid for at least 6 months beyond the period of stay in Israel.

How strictly it is enforced, especially if visa is not required, I don't know.

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Assuming you're flying in, your problem will be airline check-in, which definitely enforce passport validity regulations: the airline is heavily fined if you're turned back at immigration. And if you're denied boarding, you'll never even make it to Israel.

I would recommend renewing the passport now, it's a hassle but you'll have to do it anyway.

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    Well the airline could be fined only if there is a hard and fast rule "don't let people with less than XY passport validity board the airplane". Is there such a rule?
    – Johnnyjanko
    Commented Aug 23 at 10:15
  • "you'll have to do it anyway" >> see EDIT2 in the question
    – Johnnyjanko
    Commented Aug 23 at 10:21
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    @Johnnyjanko I think the scope of these fines are frequently exaggerated on this SE but ultimately airlines have to do this at scale and rely on databases like TIMATIC, maybe the more pragmatic question is what's in the database for your scenario, that's definitely something to consider beside the actual rule and what would happen at the destination.
    – Relaxed
    Commented Aug 23 at 10:25
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    @Relaxed fair enough, I'd be happy if someone told me what's in the Timatic, cause I don't have access to it...
    – Johnnyjanko
    Commented Aug 23 at 10:27
  • @Johnnyjanko Some airlines include a Timatic link on their websites to help passengers check travel doc requirements. Try eg Copa and also sites like IATA
    – Traveller
    Commented Aug 23 at 11:48

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