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Sunday, April 2, 2023
US envoy to Israel welcomes long-delayed expansion of Allenby crossing hours
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US Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides celebrates the extension of hours at the Allenby crossing to Jordan — a key promise US President Joe Biden made to Palestinians during his visit last year.
“Big news! As of today, the Allenby Bridge is now officially open 24/5,” tweets Nides, noting that “we kept @POTUS’s promise.”
Nides calls the move “a win for Palestinians and Israelis alike!”
The crossing will open on Sundays at 8 a.m. and remain open until Fridays at 3:30 p.m. On Saturdays, it will operate from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
In November, a pilot program tested the crossing’s ability to run at all hours of the day, after years of operating under more limited hours, which led to long lines for the almost exclusively Palestinian pedestrians.
Queues to cross into Jordan can last hours or up to an entire day, creating a headache for Palestinians, who are barred from traveling through Ben Gurion Airport. As a result, they fly in and out of Jordan’s Amman airport, but first must pay a series of fees to cross the border.
The roll-out of Allenby’s expanded hours was delayed several times, drawing the ire of the Biden administration, which announced over the summer that the crossing would begin permanently running 24/7 in September.
The Times of Israel Community.