Would you visit Isreal now?

[TotallyOz]

I have a chance to visit Isreal in a few weeks. I have dreamed of this for many years. It has been on my "bucket list" since I was 10 years old so I would love to check this off the list.

The hotels are cheap now. But, would you feel safe in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv or other "holy" places now?

[Guest EXPAT]

I think now would be OK as long as you are aware. I've been there a few times and there is always a risk. But it seems that the cease fire seems to be holding for now. It's a beautiful country or at least it was when I was there the few times I went.

[Guest StevenDraker]

You may have seen the U.S. Department of State recommendations:

http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/alertswarnings/israel-travel-warning.html

[MsAnn]

I have a chance to visit Isreal in a few weeks. I have dreamed of this for many years. It has been on my "bucket list" since I was 10 years old so I would love to check this off the list.

The hotels are cheap now. But, would you feel safe in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv or other "holy" places now?

Israel is simply the most amazing country Mr. OZ. Yes there is risk, and there are places in the middle east that I would stay clear of, like Cairo, but I would not miss the opportunity to travel to Israel. Tel Aviv has an amazing gay culture. Wonderful people and culturally and historically it is something that you will never forget. Please let us know what you decide.

[RA1]

My life philosophy is keep moving. It is harder to hit a moving target. Subpart A is don't do "dangerous" things as a habit. That means I would take an airplane in that is too big for a 2,000 foot long runway ONCE but I would not be based there and do it every day. All that means I would go once.

Years ago when I was flying routinely all over the place, I was advised if I delivered a plane to Israel to not get my passport stamped because it would cause problems when and if I needed to deliver one to an Arab country. That may still be good advice although I have no idea how accommodating Israeli officials are for "ordinary" tourists. Just a tidbit.

Best regards,

RA1

[Guest lahulpe]

Hi hated my trip to Israel , the rudest people in the world.......and their interrogation at customs when you leave.....a nightmare 1 1/2 hour with a VIP helper. For some people it took 4 hours. I will NEVER go back.

one example in Tel Aviv , when I arrived in my room I found a dirty woman underwear in my bathroom, I put it in a plastic bag and brought it to reception and told them the room was not properly cleaned after the previous occupant......they accused me of planting it !!!!!!!!!!

I was traveling with my companion but we always take 2 rooms.....they questioned me because we had only one suitcase ( + 2 carry on ) so ridiculous.

I had a few other incidents in hotels, restaurants ( their explanation......we have been at war for 50 years )

I am not anti Jewish.... I have many Jewish friends but I hated Israelis

[Guest StevenDraker]

The security is on maximum alert level.

I have friends who visited Tel Aviv for Gay Pride this summer and they complained too about Customs and Immigration at the airport. Upon entering the country every piece of their luggage was thoroughly searched in details, security went through their cell phones and laptops and asked many questions.

My friends took a private road trip to the Holy sites, and they arranged for everything online, but since the driver was from arab background they were stopped and searched several times along the route.

Bear in mind that in every building and tourist attraction you have to go through a metal detector, body searches and be ready to comply.

[MsGuy]

Go for it, OZ. Statistically speaking, you'll probably be safer in Israel than in Jordan.

You might want to hold back on advising Israelis on their how they conduct their relations with Pals. Israelis tend toward aggressively argumentative and blunt to the point of rudeness in their conversations. No joke, there's even a government office that tries to coach Israelis on how to talk with foreigners w/o offending them.

[Guest StevenDraker]

Why I won't travel to Israel

August 6th 2014

"It's fine," my friend Jo wrote from Tel Aviv. "So far all of the rockets fired at the city have been shot down."

Um, right. Somewhere along the line, in the intervening years between her moving away from the Gold Coast and going to live with her now husband in Israel, Jo's version of "fine" might have diverged slightly from mine.

Fine, for me, is a nice sunny day. It's not deadly rockets being shot down by a state-of-the-art defence system.

But in this definition of "fine" lay the conundrum: did I trust my friends, or did I go with my gut?

Israel was at war, and had been for week or so when I got that message on Facebook from Jo. I had been planning to visit the country as a tourist, scheduled to touch down in about 10 days' time and head first to Jerusalem, and then back to cosmopolitan Tel Aviv to check it all out, a country I'd wanted to visit for years.

News out of Israel, however, was bad. Gaza was being attacked. Rockets were being fired. Violence had broken out in the West Bank. Civilians were being killed. Air raid sirens were blaring. And I was going to go to this place for a holiday?

I took to Twitter to gauge the opinion of the masses. "At what point do I cancel my trip to Israel and go to Italy instead?"

My cousin Sam was one of the first to reply: "Think we passed that point mate. When kids started being bombed on beaches."

Fair call. But still, I was getting tired of warfare disrupting my travel plans. I'd been all set to visit Ukraine back in May, but decided to cancel that one when fighting broke out. Now it was looking like the same thing would happen in Israel.

It raises the question: how far would you be willing to go in the name of travel? What level of risk would you take? I'd always wanted to go to Israel, it's one of those places I think everyone should see with their own eyes before they make judgments - but at what point do you decide that the danger is too great?

The line sits in a different place for every traveller. I've been to plenty of supposedly dangerous countries and had an amazing, safe time. And I've always liked to think that I'm not easily scared off, that I'd take risks for the chance to see places I'm really interested in. But on Israel, I was wavering.

How do you decide? Reading the news was petrifying. Listening to Jo was calming. Government warnings are usually a decent indicator of the danger involved; however, DFAT's rating of Israel at the "exercise a high degree of caution" level seemed mystifyingly relaxed to me. That was the same level as Turkey, which apparently had "the threat of terrorism".

A vague threat. Meanwhile Israel was at war, with actual rockets being fired at it. But, you know, be cautious.

Jo in Tel Aviv was telling stories of trips to bomb shelters when the air raid sirens went off. She'd advised me not to use public buses because of the threat of terrorist attacks. But she still had foreign visitors, she said, who were perfectly safe. What to do?

On one hand, there's never a particularly good time to visit Israel. Just less bad. You feel there's always the threat of danger lurking in the background. You just have to accept the risks and go.

For me, the line wasn't drawn at the air-raid sirens, or terrorist threats, the possible war crimes in Gaza or even the Hamas rockets that were still being shot down. It was something much more simple than that: travel insurance.

A quick read through my policy revealed I wasn't covered for acts of terrorism or war, even if war hadn't officially been declared. I was also expected to take action if I knew of any circumstances that could affect my safety while travelling. Say, for instance, a war.

So should I have visited Israel, I wouldn't have been covered by insurance. That was enough for me.

I cancelled one set of flights and bought another, swapping bomb shelters in Tel Aviv for a scooter adventure in Sicily.

I'll get to Israel another time. When there are fewer rockets.

What would it take for you to cancel your travel plans? Have you ever had to alter a trip because of civil unrest? Where do you draw the line?

source: http://www.traveller.com.au/why-i-wont-travel-to-israel-3d7gd

[Guest StevenDraker]

When Is it Safe to Visit Israel?

TRAVEL TIPS

Sarah Dray, Demand Media

Most areas in Israel are safe if you exercise caution.

Israel is not in a constant state of war. Although bombings and fighting do occur, they are not everyday problems. The key to being safe when visiting Israel is to avoid crowds, especially demonstrations and protests, and to be aware of your surroundings.

When Not to Go

Avoid major Jewish, Christian and Muslim holidays. Requiring particular care are the Jewish holidays: Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in September or October, Hanukkah in December and Passover in April. At those times, the country is more likely to have large crowds on the streets. If terrorists want to attack, they will choose times like this, when the potential for greater damage is higher. Christmas is also a very busy time that you might want to avoid.

Major Religious Sites

If you're visiting major religious sites, such as the Western Wall or Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, do it at the safest times possible, which are weekdays during the day. Avoid visiting during religious holidays, Friday afternoons and Saturdays. Avoid the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, which falls inside the limits of the West Bank, unless you're with a tour group that has armed protection.

Checking for Danger

Always check Israel's travel advisory page at the U.S. Department of State website a couple of weeks before your trip. The page is updated regularly with any new developments that might affect your trip. If new threats of terrorist attacks or protests and demonstrations are underway, it might be wise to postpone or cancel your trip. The U.S. government recommends remaining alert while in public places in Israel, such as malls, bus stations and places of worship.

Gaza-Israel Border

It's never safe to travel to the Gaza-Israel border and the West Bank area. The U.S. government recommends that American citizens avoid these areas completely. If there's a current travel advisory for Israel, you might want to avoid the area around Gaza, too. According to the U.K. Foreign & Commonwealth Office, the risk of rocket fire extends for 25 miles around the Gaza perimeter.

source: http://traveltips.usatoday.com/safe-visit-israel-52812.html