Is It Safe To Travel To Israel?
Is it safe to travel to Israel? Many people find themselves dreaming, wishing and actually feeling an urgency or need to travel to the Holy Land, the one place on earth where Jesus Christ walked. That urgency is not unusual, I have felt it myself and I cannot overstate the impact that traveling to the Holy Land has had on my relationship with Christ, my Bible Studies and my desire to spread God's Word.transport tel aviv airport to jerusalem
Israel in the Daily News...
Although Israel seems to be a star in the daily news, visiting the Holy Land is not very different from vacationing and traveling any other place in the world. According to the blog Traveling Israel "Crime rates in Israel are much much lower than other countries around the world and the rest is pretty much noise and bad publicity. Israel's first goal is to protect its citizens and the state security is top-notch, perhaps the best in the world. We all heard the stories about EL AL's security procedures, making the national Israeli airline to be the safest around the globe, and that's what Israelis do best - keep things on the safe side." Violence anywhere should not be downplayed. Tensions between neighborhoods, ethnic groups, political groups, and authority and civilians can be found in most countries and Israel certainly has its share of all of them.
The Middle East
Because of the larger Middle East's ongoing strife, any violence that crops up is widely reported around the world, quickly and efficiently, as we all know, bad news travels fast! The Middle East is a hotbed of war and strife and let's be honest, has been that way for thousands of years. That is not to say that anyone planning to travel to Israel should ignore current events but a careful look at the news articles can actually be reassuring. One article I read recently had a very provocative picture of masked protesters that seemed to be Palestinian. The caption of the picture, in small print, contained the fact that the picture was from a protest in Casablanca, Morocco. Obviously we need to be careful when taking a trip to the Holy Land, however we should not let the media, with its need for sensational news, deter us.tlv airport to haifa
Current Events
This current wave of violence by all accounts is unorganized and sporadic, and while we know that bloodshed is not unusual in this part of the Middle East, these stabbings, shootings and driving into crowds is very different from the orchestrated rocket attacks and suicide bombings of past confrontations. The Israeli military has successfully used the "Iron Dome" missile defense system to intercept rocket fire from Gaza or northern areas, plus the country has spent huge amounts of money developing an intelligence network to stop potential suicide bombings and terrorist infiltrations. However, as an October 15th article from CNN points out these latest waves of violent confrontations are, "... the ultimate low-tech response to Israel's high-tech, high-cost security."
3rd Intifada?
Most Middle East authorities, including the Israelis are not blaming these attacks on militant groups or unified factions such as Hamas. Even though Hamas has praised the Palestinian attackers, they are not claiming responsibility for any of the violence, a direct difference from past confrontations. The previous "intifadas" required an infrastructure to provide attackers with resources, materials, and transportation to get them into place to carry out attacks, which is not the case in these current assaults.Israel Airport Taxi
Beer Sheva Assault
Although the attack in Beer Sheva on Sunday, October 18th was reported by the media as another act of violence in the continuing saga of "Israel versus Palestine," it was not clear if the attacker was motivated by those tensions. The person responsible was an Arab Bedouin citizen of Israel and although some Bedouins identify as Palestinian, they are their own ethnic group within Israel and other Arab states. Bedouin groups have been at odds with authorities throughout the Middle East over issues of their own, and as such the police have not been able to determine a motive for the Beer Sheva assault.
Israel in the Daily News...
Although Israel seems to be a star in the daily news, visiting the Holy Land is not very different from vacationing and traveling any other place in the world. According to the blog Traveling Israel "Crime rates in Israel are much much lower than other countries around the world and the rest is pretty much noise and bad publicity. Israel's first goal is to protect its citizens and the state security is top-notch, perhaps the best in the world. We all heard the stories about EL AL's security procedures, making the national Israeli airline to be the safest around the globe, and that's what Israelis do best - keep things on the safe side." Violence anywhere should not be downplayed. Tensions between neighborhoods, ethnic groups, political groups, and authority and civilians can be found in most countries and Israel certainly has its share of all of them.
The Middle East
Because of the larger Middle East's ongoing strife, any violence that crops up is widely reported around the world, quickly and efficiently, as we all know, bad news travels fast! The Middle East is a hotbed of war and strife and let's be honest, has been that way for thousands of years. That is not to say that anyone planning to travel to Israel should ignore current events but a careful look at the news articles can actually be reassuring. One article I read recently had a very provocative picture of masked protesters that seemed to be Palestinian. The caption of the picture, in small print, contained the fact that the picture was from a protest in Casablanca, Morocco. Obviously we need to be careful when taking a trip to the Holy Land, however we should not let the media, with its need for sensational news, deter us.tlv airport to haifa
Current Events
This current wave of violence by all accounts is unorganized and sporadic, and while we know that bloodshed is not unusual in this part of the Middle East, these stabbings, shootings and driving into crowds is very different from the orchestrated rocket attacks and suicide bombings of past confrontations. The Israeli military has successfully used the "Iron Dome" missile defense system to intercept rocket fire from Gaza or northern areas, plus the country has spent huge amounts of money developing an intelligence network to stop potential suicide bombings and terrorist infiltrations. However, as an October 15th article from CNN points out these latest waves of violent confrontations are, "... the ultimate low-tech response to Israel's high-tech, high-cost security."
3rd Intifada?
Most Middle East authorities, including the Israelis are not blaming these attacks on militant groups or unified factions such as Hamas. Even though Hamas has praised the Palestinian attackers, they are not claiming responsibility for any of the violence, a direct difference from past confrontations. The previous "intifadas" required an infrastructure to provide attackers with resources, materials, and transportation to get them into place to carry out attacks, which is not the case in these current assaults.Israel Airport Taxi
Beer Sheva Assault
Although the attack in Beer Sheva on Sunday, October 18th was reported by the media as another act of violence in the continuing saga of "Israel versus Palestine," it was not clear if the attacker was motivated by those tensions. The person responsible was an Arab Bedouin citizen of Israel and although some Bedouins identify as Palestinian, they are their own ethnic group within Israel and other Arab states. Bedouin groups have been at odds with authorities throughout the Middle East over issues of their own, and as such the police have not been able to determine a motive for the Beer Sheva assault.
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