It is understandable that Israel has always had tight control of its borders. Those of us who have been subjected to the rigorous questioning and suspicion which comes with travel to Israel willingly put up with it; we realise the needs of Israel’s security.

Now the pandemic has added another layer to the issue of who is and who is not allowed to enter the country. But previously such decisions have had a rational basis. With this latest factor comes a series of demands and rules which are not merely irrational — they are a disgrace.

As we report, the Israeli government has recently started to enforce again an old law which requires children of expats to carry Israeli passports. That may be iniquitous — no other country makes such a demand — but is not of itself disgraceful.

The real issue is that the government is demanding that expat Israeli parents are having to produce documents to prove their children are not adopted. Parents of children as old as 12 are being told to produce pregnancy scans or discharge letters from the maternity ward.

The demands are ludicrous — who keeps hospital discharge letters? — in furtherance of a grotesque divide between biological and adopted children. And these demands, remember, are being made of Israeli citizens, not visitors, who happen to be living abroad.

Israel has a well-earned reputation for bureaucratic madness. It should be trying to live it down, not heighten it.