Bangladesh removes passport clause that barred travel to Israel

Bangladesh drops ‘except Israel’ clause from its e-passport at a time when Israel is censured globally for bombing Gaza.

Dhaka, Bangladesh – A decision by the government of Bangladesh to remove a clause from its e-passport that barred its nationals from visiting Israel has given birth to speculation that the country might be looking to normalise ties with Israel. The move to remove the “except Israel” clause from its e-passport has shocked people in the South Asian country of 160 million, many questioning the decision that comes at a time when hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip. Older Bangladeshi passports used to bear the sentence: “This passport is valid for all the countries of the world except Israel.” Six months ago, when the South Asian country rolled out its new e-passport, the “except Israel” phrase was removed without any public announcement.