Bangladesh drops 'except Israel' from passport, foreign ministry says no change in policy towards Tel Aviv

While dropping of words "except Israel" in the new passport seemed like Bangladesh has lifted the decades-old travel ban on Israel, the country has clarified that irrespective of new e-passports, "Bangladesh did not change position on Israel including travel ban."

Bangladesh on Saturday announced dropping of words "except Israel" in the new passport which was hailed by Israel as a "lift of decades-old travel ban". But, Dhaka was quick to clarify that the decision to remove those words does not amount to change in Bangladesh's position towards Israel, as it still does not recognise Israel. Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen told reporters in Dhaka on Sunday, "We have taken decision to drop "except Israel" from passport six months ago when we introduced e-passport. It is for standardisation of our passport. But our foreign policy will remain the same towards Israel. We are not going to establish our ties with Israel. We support the struggle of the people of Palestine. We also support two-state solutions. So, our foreign policy will remain unchanged." Bangladeshi passports earlier had a clause written on them that said: "This Passport is valid for all countries of the world except Israel", but the government on Saturday decided to remove "except Israel" from the document making it valid for the entire world.