Tel Aviv, Mar 10 (IANS): The number of foreign tourists arriving in Israel during the first two months of 2022 has jumped by 41.3 per cent compared with the last two months of 2021, according to data released by the state's Central Bureau of Statistics.

The number of tourists visiting Israel in January-February this year reached 135,800, compared with 96,100 in November-December 2021 and 10,100 in the first two months of last year, reports Xinhua news agency.

Following the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020, Israel had closed its borders to foreign nationals, apart from exceptional cases.

In 2021, Israel gradually allowed foreign tourists to enter the country, but in late November it re-imposed the entry ban due to the spread of the Omicron wave.

In early January this year, Israel allowed the entry of vaccinated and recovering tourists, and at the beginning of March, it also allowed the entry of unvaccinated tourists.