נוסעת במטוס עם מסכה
נוסעת במטוס עם מסכהצילום: ISTOCK

Passengers flying to or from Israel will no longer be mandated by the Israeli government to wear face masks, the Israeli Health Ministry announced Tuesday.

Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz, Health Ministry director-general Nachman Ash, public health chief Sharon Alroy-Preis, and COVID czar Salman Zarka agreed Tuesday not to extend Israel’s mask mandate on passenger planes during international flights, effectively ending the requirement.

The mandate is set to expire next Monday, ending the mask requirement in all closed locations in Israel, with the exception of medical centers and nursing homes.

As with other closed spaces open to the general public, travelers are already not required to wear masks at Israeli airports. There is also no requirement at present to wear masks on domestic flights.

Masks will still be mandatory on flights to and from countries which continue to maintain mask mandates, however.

While a United States federal court struck down the airplane mandate for flights to and from the US, the European Union still requires masks on international flights to or from the EU.

On Monday, the European Union announced that masks will no longer be required at airports in the EU, or on flights where both the country of departure and destination are within the EU.