It was despite rules requiring people to test negative via either PCR or antigen tests before flying.. They ban outbound travel to ten nations including the US and Canada.
Inbound travel was already banned for non-Israelis, other than individual exceptions made by the government.that Miami hosted the Israeli-American Council's summit earlier in December. It reported that some attendees on prior flights were able to fly back and only later tested positive for Covid-19. Israel tightened its restrictions in response to the rapid growth of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
A spokesperson for Israel's health ministry said that of the 17 positive cases on a single flight, some have been verified to be Omicron cases and others"are in high suspicion" to be Omicron,