Portugal on Wednesday became the first European country to ban entry to Israelis following the recommendation of the European Union to restrict tourists from seven countries due to high virus infection rates.

The other countries removed from the safe travel list were the United States, Kosovo, Lebanon, Montenegro and North Macedonia.

The ban includes all Israelis, even those who are vaccinated or present a negative coronavirus test.

Israel leads the world in the number of coronavirus cases per capita over the past week, according to an Oxford University study published on Tuesday.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)