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The critics focused on a stipulation in section 9 of the Senate version of the bill, according to which Israel will join the waiver program "on the date on which the Secretary of Homeland Security, after consultation with the Secretary of State, certifies that the Government of Israel…has made every reasonable effort, without jeopardizing the security of the State of Israel, to ensure that reciprocal travel privileges are extended to all United States citizens."Critics object to language that seems to condition Israeli reciprocity on Israel making only a "reasonable effort" to do so, and giving Israel the "excuse" that granting US citizens travel privileges not "jeopardiz[e] the security of the State of Israel."

"Rather than hold Israel accountable for its ethnic, religious, and political profiling of US citizens, S.462 [the most recent Senate version of the bill] would codify into law US acceptance of Israel's discrimination and allow it to continue to deny visas to US citizens through its unique catch-all 'reasonable effort' and 'security' loopholes," read a letter sent by pro-Palestinian groups to senators last week.No other member country of the visa waiver program, which currently has 37 countries enrolled, is granted such a stipulation, critics noted."This is a major test for our legal and The United States J1 Visa democratic system," declared the Council on American-Islamic Relations last week. "If this bill becomes the law of the land, American Muslims and Arab-Americans would be turned into second-class citizens who could be legally subjected to Israel's well-documented ethnic and religious profiling" when traveling to Israel.

But the proponents of the bill, including Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) who introduced the latest version in the Senate and Representative Brad Sherman (D-CA) who introduced an earlier version in the House, argue that the criticism is unfair and untrue."Every country in the world – including the United States – retains the right to deny entry to individuals based on national security concerns," Boxer said on Monday. The stipulation is central to the visa waiver program itself, she noted: "The US explicitly warns countries that are granted entry into the visa waiver program that we have the right to deny entry to any foreign national who represents a 'threat to the welfare, health, safety, or security of the United States.'"