How Do I Know That Travel To Israel Is Safe? I was there in February 2024!
I was blessed to travel to Israel for 10 days in February with Ezer, my favorite Israeli guide. You can imagine what people said when they learned I was going….I won’t bore you with the details of those comments, you have probably heard them all! Anyway, the trip was wonderful, and as usual when I disembarked from the El Al flight from LAX to Tel Aviv I felt that same peace flow over me that I always feel when I arrive in the Holy Land. It is an unexplainable peace, maybe it’s just being able to get off the plane after 14 hours, but I don’t think so….I believe it is being in the same place where Jesus walked. His peace is there even when the world is not at peace and enemies of Israel are trying erase God’s Chosen People from the face of the earth.
During the entire tour, 10 days, we did not hear one warning siren or one rocket. We traveled from Jerusalem to the Sea of Galilee, from Tel Aviv to the Dead Sea and walked through the Muslim Quarter in the Old City and across the Temple Mount. We hiked the expanse of Masada, up the tel at Bet She’an, through Hezekiah’s Tunnel and down the Palm Sunday Road. In other words, we were able to visit all the sites that any Holy Land visitor wants to see – all without any safety issues or distractions. So if you are thinking about going to Israel this year…GO! It may be one of the best times to walk where Jesus walked. Safety in Israel is like safety in any other place you visit: be aware of your surroundings, stay alert, don’t get distracted, take reasonable precautions, and have the best local guides.
“The uproar of enemies” Psalm 83
You can put this in the “believe it or not” category….even those who refuse to acknowledge God, those who say God doesn’t exist or say their god is bigger and better, still follow the plan God laid out in His Word. The writer of Psalm 83 tells us that His enemies “devise crafty schemes,” “they conspire against His people,” and they have made a unanimous decision to “wipe out Israel as a nation.” If that doesn’t sound like what happened to Israel in 2023, I don’t know what does. But I will say this: nothing is a surprise to God; it’s all in His plan.
Despite prophecy and the news you see about Israel, especially today as Israel struggles with Hamas, as I said above, traveling to Israel is actually a very safe. It’s easy to associate all of Israel with the Gaza Strip and the current problem with Hamas, but the sites you visit as a tourist or Holy Land pilgrim will not be near the Gaza Strip. Maybe you read in Exodus 13 about the roundabout path that God had Moses take the Israelites as he led them out of Egypt. It was a path designed to avoid Philistine territory, that territory is today’s Gaza Strip and the majority of faith-based tours to Israel still avoid Philistine territory!
Travel Advisories
As of today there are not any US travel advisories discouraging travel to Israel. So, is it safe to travel to Israel, the Holy Land? Yes, 99% of sites in the Holy Land that you want to see are extremely safe, however some Old Testament sites, including Abraham’s Tomb, Shechem, Hebron, Jericho and even Bethlehem, lie in the West Bank and probably should be left off your itinerary. Most foreign governments rarely include Israel proper in travel alerts, instead, travel advisories specifically warn against visiting the Gaza Strip and the West Bank (which includes Biblical Samaria).
Brothers and Enemies, Tribes and Clans
The reality on the ground is that the Holy Land is a secure and safe destination for visitors. There’s no doubt that the political situation in the region has always been and still remains edgy. Even so, once you are in country and meet Israelis and Palestinians, you will find that the majority of the population has wants and needs just like yours, to raise their families, make a living, educate their children, and enjoy their homes and communities.
Most Israel news in 2024 is about the Hamas attacks and the war between Gaza militants and the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces). The attacks by Hamas in October 2023 were horrific and the ensuing war has landed Israel on the wrong side of global opinion. Regardless of where your views land, the fact remains that Israel’s intent is to destroy Hamas’ hold on Gaza. It is apparent, after my trip in February and the lack of rocket fire from Gaza that the IDF has made inroads in Hamas’ military structure. In addition, the PIJ (Palestinian Islamic Jihad), an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood and the second largest terror group in Gaza after Hamas, has also been weakened. Hamas and the PIJ’s primary sponsor is Iran, which has provided millions of dollars in funding as well as training and weapons. Iran’s sole purpose in providing aid to these groups is to have their proxies push Israel into the sea….so what is Israel to do? I don’t know, but God has said that Israel’s enemies would always have that purpose and apparently He was right! Regardless, as a visitor to the Holy Land, Gaza will not be on your itinerary.
Politically, there are serious and substantial issues of hegemony, not to mention territorial and citizenship concerns that need to be resolved before even a fragile peace in the Middle East emerges as a possibility. Bringing the Palestinian issue to a resolution does not enhance the political ambitions of Arab nations surrounding Israel. Apparently they need the Palestinian “two state,” “one state” or “no state” rallying cry as a flashpoint for their long term goals. It would seem that when God declared in Genesis 16:12 that the descendants of Abraham’s sons, Ishmael and Isaac, would live in open hostility towards each other He meant it; so a lasting peace, brokered by man, is just not in the cards.
Tourists Keep Coming
Prior to the Hamas – Israel war, travel statistics verified that Israel was still high on most people’s bucket list. From my February experience, tourism to Israel has taken quite a hit. While we were there, for the most part, we were the only tour at the majority of sites. We certainly were the only tour in our Jerusalem hotel. On Masada, we were blessed to visit that site with several groups of school kids, evidently the schools were taking advantage of low tourism to get their classrooms up to Masada, a rallying place for Israeli pride. We talked and sang with the young people who were very excited to see us and thanked us for coming.
From my February experience I would have to say that the conflict has pushed tourism back to COVID days. Prior to October 2023, Israel was on track to regain it’s place in most people’s travel plans. COVID had definitely put a two-year crimp in Israeli travel, actually worldwide travel but Israel was making a comeback.
The pre-pandemic numbers for Israel travel were off the charts, and post-pandemic, tourism had begun to rebound. A September 8th, 2022 article by CISION PRNewswire told of record breaking tourist arrivals in Israel from the United States. In July 2022 Israel welcomed 82,000 American visitors which was a 4% increase over pre-COVID travelers for the same period in 2019. In 2019 Israel had welcomed 4.6 million visitors with 970,000 coming from the US. In 2022, despite a few days of fighting between the IDF and militants in Gaza, the country was visited by 600,000+ US travelers. According to Statista.com by the end of 2022 Israel welcomed 3.07 million visitors.
While predictions of 3.89 million expected tourists in 2023 may have been reached before the October 7th crisis, the 2024 hopes for 4.76 million to enter the country as tourists and visitors will certainly not be met, crushing those businesses that rely on tourism for their livelihoods. What the future holds and whether a 2025 forecast of 5.68 million visitors, made pre-war, is even in the cards, we can only wait and see. What I can tell you is that this may be the best time to visit Israel as far as access to Biblical sites and venues. While it is hard for those who have never been to the Holy Land to understand how it can be peaceful at Biblical sites when there is conflict, that is normal for Israel and Israelis. I would encourage you to make plans to be a visitor to Israel during the next year!
You Are Not Alone
The fact that you have concerns and questions about traveling to the Holy Land is not unusual. No one makes that first trip without some trepidation, but everyone who has had the privilege of traveling to Israel will tell you that the experience changed their life and that while they were in the Holy Land they never felt unsafe. That being said, precautions need to be taken whenever we are away from home. Common sense tells us to be aware of our surroundings and to make sure we are taking measures to be safe and secure.
Safety Pointers
•Obtain comprehensive travel medical insurance that includes medical evacuation
•Watch out for and beware of unattended items like backpacks, bags or purses
•Avoid demonstrations and maintain a high degree of awareness in your surroundings
•Make sure your tour guides take your safety seriously
Our guide Ezer travels with the group the entire trip, he meets us at the Tel Aviv Airport the first day, spends the nights in the same hotels and travels with us on the bus.
• Make sure your tour guides are up-to-date on current events and in contact with officials
Ezer is in contact at all times with tourist officials, he is ex-military and has close contacts in that area.
• Make sure the tours and bus routes are limited to approved and secure locations
We do not travel to locations in the West Bank, and only travel to Bethlehem or Jericho when it is absolutely safe (we did not travel to either place in 2024 but visited both in 2021).
• Buses should never be left alone or unlocked, your guide will assure you of this
• Ask if your accommodations are in well-known hotel chains and in secure areas
We stay in well-known hotels, the Gai Beach Hotel in Tiberias and the Leonardo Plaza in Jerusalem and Eilat.
• Always fly on El Al, because all flights and luggage transfers are supervised by Israeli security
Our round-trip, non-stop flight from the US to Tel Aviv is on El Al
• Don’t leave the group to travel to the Gaza Strip and West Bank
• Drink plenty of water
Our bus drivers stock the buses with water each day, asking $1.00 a bottle.
• Make copies of your passport and documents
Find a faith-based tour that fits your schedule and needs, you will return safe and changed!
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the things you did do.” – Mark Twain
Tours to the Holy Land 