Georgian pilgrims denied Israeli visas

12/1/13 – Lika Moshiashvili

On Christmas Eve, the news that the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Israel had refused to issue visas to Georgia’s commercial tour agencies, as well as the Religious Tourism Department, the Patriarch’s Office and the administration of the Orthodox Church of Georgia for attending the holy ceremonies in Israel, was a big disappointment for the country, which boasts of a centuries- old friendship with the people of Israel.

The patriarch`s administration does not rule out the possibility that the refusal was tied to the frequent illegal immigration cases from Georgia. However, it is also possible that the visa rejections are linked to Georgia voting in support of the state of Palestine at the UN General Assembly recently.

“We sent a visa request list consisting of 40 people for the Christmas holiday and all of them were rejected,” said Metropolitan Saba, the head of the Religious Tourism Department of the Patriarch`s administration.. “The Interior Ministry of Israel said that we should apply to the local council, who will consider each person’s situation individually and decide whom to give visa”, he added.

“According to unofficial reports, some travel companies provided charter flights from Georgia to Israel and then the Georgian visitors never came back,” said Metropolitan Saba.

The embassy of Israel in Georgia responded to the problem by releasing a special statement saying that the embassy was “looking into” the case. “Issuing of visas for groups or individuals is done according to the law and regulations of the state of Israel. The Embassy of Israel is doing its utmost to facilitate the process,” the statement says.

In total, 3,655 Georgian citizens visited Israel in 2012, while their number was 4,340 in 2011

According to Father Mikael Botkoveli, Secretary of the leader of the Orthodox Church in Georgia Ilia II, this is the first time the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Israel refused visas to a group of pilgrims.

Georgia Today contacted the Israeli embassy in Georgia, but as the Head of Public Relations Department Lika Gagiashvili explained, Israeli Ambassador Iuval Fux is not in Tbilisi at the moment and she “can neither confirm nor deny” that the refusal on visas is somehow connected with the fact that Georgia supported the state of Palestine at the UN General Assembly.

Ambassador of Georgia to the State of Israel Archil (Abesalom) Kekelia denies the connection between these two facts. “The Embassy of Israel should decide whether to issue the visas or not, but if the Patriarch’s Office had informed us, maybe we could have been able to do something,” said Kekelia. The ambassador thinks the refusal on visas is related to technical issues.

According to Metropolitan Saba, nearly 15 Georgian citizens received individual visas from the Council of Israel recently.

Representatives of local tour agencies are worried because this incident may cause some loss to them from commercial a point of view.

“Approximately 100-150 tourists go to Israel every year via our agency and this recent incident may have some negative results,” explained Nino Namgaladze, the director of the Tbilisi-based tour agency ViaTravel. “If the [visa] problems continue, we will offer our customers other countries such as Greece, Italy and others. These countries are also very attractive for pilgrims.”

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