all the Israeli citizens for this inconvenience while the government transitions from it's anti-terrorist/pro-Israel stance to a full fledged arab/american anti-Semitic country. Please be patient and you will get used to being kicked around by obumma while he allows iran to build the nukes they need to eliminate you. Fear not, once obumma's plans are fully realized, condolence cards will be sent all over the world recognizing your destruction.

.. dancing on the ruins of 9/11 at ground zero.

Israelis do tend to overstay more than say english do in the US. Whilst i think the Obama regime is doing a "Carter" and screwing the US allies to suck up to US enemies, i don't think this is up there...

I can't blame the US government from turning Israel down again. Next time you walk by that cart selling Ahava products at the local shopping mall somewhere in the US...ask yourself whether that young Israeli is working legally, is in the States on an expired tourist visa etc. The US Embassy and Consulate in Israel are not blind. One only has to open the classified ads in any of the local daily papers, Maariv, Yediot etc. to see the ads enticing young Israelis to work abroad in the US...These kids get to the States on a tourist visa, over stay their welcome or just plain work ilegally! We have no one to blame but ourselves! The US State Department has learned long ago about the Israeli "combina", the Israeli habit to strech the edge of the envelope, at best...but more likely to rip it to shreds! For years I saw dozens of young Israelis who have overstayed their tourist visas whether to work in some boutique owned by some other older Israeli who too most likely either violated their visa terms, or had the money to invest in a bsuiness and get a Green card...So every time that young backpacker gets a tourist visa to the States, or some Mother goes to visit the kids in the Valley and overstays their visas...let them realize they are screwing other Israelis for years to come! If the average Israeli would not think "magia li", maybe one day travel to the US will be visa free! Until the Israeli mindset changes, there is no hope! Just go see the line on Hayarkone as young Israelis line up for their interviews for a visa! All you can say, "be'emet chaval"! Nobody to blame but ourselves!

Unfortunately # 5 is very accurate. I am on the East Coast and the number of Israelis in businesses and restaurants is huge. Many have told me how much they miss Israel and when I suggest they go visit they indicate they can't--if they leave the US they will not be able to return due to their status right now!!

You are talking bull. I am sure the US is more upset with the foreigners who took the towers down in the first place. I agree with number 5.

I completely agree, as an American living in Israel, I was never aware of how many Israelis willfully and pridefully took advantage of their hosts in America and overstayed their visa. Israelis seem to forget that a Visa is not an entitlement it is rather a revokable privilege. The problem is the mentality that all rules are made to be broken for personal gain, I would be thrilled if all my fellow Israeli citizens could visit the country where I came from but I cannot sympathise with those who don't respect and follow the rules.

As an attorney who handles US Immigration cases, the US is correct is seeking to reduce the amount of illegal overstays in USA. Israelis do so often in that regard. It also reduces emigration from Israel.

those Israeli tourists constitute a potential threat; they sooner than later try to be citizens.

When I last checked the number of Israelis staying on illegally in the USA was a drop in the ocean of the illegal Mexicans and many other ethnicities working in the grey economy for rubbish pay and in apalling social conditions. Everywhere you go in America you find these exploited workers!

Just another wee bit of proof that Obama and his Aministration are no friends of Israel. This power-drunk novice is also doing untold harm to the USA. With him at the helm, if he gets his way, the security of the USA will sink to an all time low. Obama is blind to the reality of the situation in the world today vis a vis terrorism. He's another Jimmy Carter. G-d help America.

such matters.

of any nationality, who come here, pay no taxes, consume public services, bring in drugs and crime and mooch of the welfare system. Israel doesn't tolerate illegals either: in fact, much less than America does.

...have so much in common from what I see in the talkbacks. Overstaying visas and being almost proud of braking such rules is one thing ;) And then: "The US State Department has learned long ago about the Israeli "combina"" Israelis use the word "combina"? It's a noun? There is a verb "kombinowac" in Polish which from what I understood means the same thing and is much used ;) (And yet, Americans exempted most Eastern Europeans and hopefully will even grant the visa waiver to Poles in the near future)

The UK is one of those "no visa required" states - this, despite that fact that it is now a terror gateway into the west. "dancing on the ruins of 9/11 at ground zero"? I know, I shouldn't respond to nuts like Chanalau. It just encourages them.

thats why the mexicans need a visa too

All that has to be done is for the dibs (dumb Israelii bastards) not to stay beyond the terms of their current visas. As long as that level is not at the 2% max.--then the rules stay as they are. This article's whiny tone seems to have been written by one of those clowns on an illegal visa.

That being the case, why not kick back in the pocket? Reduce drastically the numbers of visitors, thus, the Israeli bank accounts will suffer less, and the American economy more.

I have an American friend who owns those boutique shops in 3 different shopping malls. Originally he hired Americans to work them and he almost went broke due to lack in sales. So he decided to hire Israelis and now his business is booming, why? Because he told me that Americans are just plain lazy (sorry to have to say this) and the Israelis are just harder working people. Granting them no visa requirements or visa requirements, they're still gonna stay here. However the picture is a bit wider than that. You see, it was the Prime Minister of Israel during the Reagan Administration who requested that Reagan NOT lift the visa requirements for Israelis entering the U.S. - why? Because, the Prime Minister feared the Israelis would have it too easy to leave the country never to return.

Exploited workers??? Simply criminals, who violeted US laws by entering illigaly and not paying taxes. They can go back any time.

When all else fails, cry anti-Semitism!

is just plain illegal. No country condones illegals that overstay their visa. Israel itself is not so sympathetic to people illegaly overstaying. Why should the US or any other country for that matter condone overstayers? It has nothidng to do with the current US President or administration. It is simply the law.

simply because they have managed to acquire a European passport. It would appear they have learned none of the lessons of recent years. A small percentage of Israelis may overstay their visas, but they have NEVER committed acts of terrorism. The price for such blindness may well be much higher than some cosmetics sold in a mall.

aliens are there. Do they still have "visa Express" in the U.S. embassy in saudi arabia? b.o. and his cut throat gang want to make illegal aliens legal. That way there will be a larger voter base for the dems. Is it so hard to realize that the U.S. government is controlled by the enemy of both the U.S. and Israel?

You all seem to be reading a *lot* more into this than is there. The article suggests that the reason there is not an exemption is that Israeli passports are not biometric. Is this a fair jumping-off point to lunatic country where you speculate on broader Israeli-US cooperations and talk about the sky falling? Wos darfst du makken? It's crazy.

3 million people come from Mexico illegally every year and stay forever.

Yeah, we were told that Israelis don't need to pay sales tax if we buy their cremes etc. Man, oh man, were they also quoting inflated prices to the makomiim friarim (local, i.e., American, suckers). Having said that, I suppose that there are other Israelis do respect the law in the US.