Israel has announced that the country will start welcoming vaccinated groups of international travellers from May 23.

This will be implemented through a phased approach initially. The country had shut its borders for more than a year due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Before making plans to visit Jerusalem, make sure you've received both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. The series of phases and guidelines will be outlined and released soon.

The first phase, a pilot programme which will be launched on May 23, will allow a select number of tour groups. Based on the success of the programme, they will then increase the number of groups.

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Individual travellers will be welcomed in a later phase.

All visitors will have to take a PCR test before boarding their flight, and a serological test to prove their vaccination upon arrival at Ben Gurion Airport. 

Later, they may settle for a vaccine certificate instead of the serological test.