After closing the door to tourists in late November due to the threat of the new Omicron variant, Israel has finally decided to allow in tourists as of midnight on Saturday, Israel time. This is mostly due to the fact that Omicron is now in Israel as well, and banning tourists will not change that fact. There will be no more “red countries;” everyone will be allowed in provided they meet several requirements (as per Yad L’Olim): You are vaccinated with a second or third (bo

Naftali Bennett, Israel's Prime Minister, just announced yesterday that Israel will be reopening for tourism on November 1. He published a plan - yet to be approved by the corona cabinet and missing numerous details - which states how Israel will be open to the world. News media both in Israel and abroad have lauded the plan, but as with everything, the devil is in the details. So let's examine what exactly is supposed to be happening... The Rules Until Now: Up until now

In a sudden turn of events, the Palestinian Authority has agreed yesterday to restart relations with Israel after six months. This apparently includes both security cooperation and finally accepting their taxes which Israel collects on their behalf (import/export taxes via Israeli ports). https://www.timesofisrael.com/palestinian-authority-announces-renewal-of-security-coordination-with-israel/ https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/palestinian-authority-to-resume-security-coor

In recent days, Israel has signed separate deals with US and Russian manufacturers of coronavirus vaccines with enough doses to vaccinate the entire country. This is on top of the local vaccine which began human trials on November 1. As an Israel tour guide this is incredibly exciting as hopefully it means we will be able to get back to work en masse as early as this coming spring . The Russian Sputnik V vaccine is in the middle of Phase III trials but has supposedly shown s

As a tour guide of Israel, I am happy to let you know of some good news regarding the opening of tourism to Israel. Israel hit a milestone today when it opened today a coronavirus test center which allows for testing for both arriving and departing passengers. Outgoing travelers who test negative will then receive a medical passport which can be used to enter a number of countries. No word yet on whether incoming travelers from "red" countries will still be forced to quaran

The Israeli-created potential vaccine for COVID-19 finally has a name. Created by the Israel Institute for Biological Research, it is called Brilife. The head of IIBR, Professor Shmuel Shapira, explained that the name includes three things. “Bri” is the first part of "briyut" - the Hebrew word for health, the “il” is the country code for Israel and of course there is the word in English "life." It is pronounced - bree-life. Human trials of the new vaccine are slated to begi

This is a recurring theme. Palestinian leaders yell and scream about Israel and call for boycotting Israel (which in reality is not possible for them since they use Israeli currency, electricity, etc.) - and even prosecute and persecute the average Palestinian if he/she does anything with Israel (like selling land to a Jew which is a capital punishment). Yet when they personally need Israel, suddenly there is no boycott, no sanctions, no impediments and no qualms. The lates

Israel has emerged now from a second lockdown, which was enacted over the Jewish holidays. While indoor spaces such as museums are still closed, the national parks are now open and more and more places will be opening in the coming weeks. As a tour guide of Israel, I cannot be more excited to get back to work providing incredibly meaningful, memorable and enjoyable experiences here for my clients. At this point, Israel has identified 34 green countries. These are countrie

With all the talk going on about Israel and Lebanon sitting down to figure out their maritime border this week - and the Israeli cabinet actually signing off on the UAE-Israel peace deal today (the Israel-Bahrain one actually has not been written yet), lost in the shuffle were two other diplomatic breakthroughs that occurred at the end of last week. Here's an update from your tour guide of Israel... Israel and Jordan signed an aviation agreement which allows for flights flyin

There is a ton to catch you up on when it comes to all things Covid-19 related coming out of Israel. This includes life-saving new research, a-Covid testing center at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport, Israeli rapid tests being introduced in world airports and the world's best masks being made in Israel. You can even get Israel-themed designs! As your tour guide of Israel, you can bet I'm getting one to rock out with when things open up here for touring again! Israel is Getting A

A major travel update: Visitors from 20 countries can now enter Israel without requiring entering into quarantine upon arrival. Israelis (or visitors coming from Israel) can also now enter into a few more countries without quarantining, though they will need to show negative tests for covid-19. Just keep in mind that if you do come to Israel, you may need to quarantine upon returning home, depending on the current rules in your home country. As a tour guide of Israel, this

In the previous months your intrepid tour guide of Israel has posted about both a 1-minute and 30-second coronavirus tests, developed in Israel, which were accurate to 90%. Now news is coming out of Israel about a success in initial clinical trials about a saliva test for corona that takes only 1 second to give results - and is 95% accurate. This could be the game-changer for international travel if it can be mass produced and is cheap enough. For more, click here: https:/

The Jerusalem Post will be running a special studio broadcast on Tuesday June 30 at 7PM Israel time (12PM EDT) called "COVID-19 and the Jews: Challenges and Opportunities." It will take on such topics as: How has Israel managed the COVID-19 health crisis? Is Antisemitism on the rise in 2020? The impact of coronavirus on the economy and what history teaches us about crises Zionism in the time of coronavirus: Against all odds, Aliyah is on the rise The panelists and speakers ar

In my last post I talked about the dangers of the anti-normalization trend among Palestinians and their supporters. https://www.tourguideofisrael.com/post/the-horrors-of-the-palestinian-education-system Well, in a situation that was anything but normal, Israelis and Palestinians, Jews and Arabs, religious and secular all found themselves living under the same roof of the Dan Hotel in Jerusalem, henceforth known as "Hotel Corona." And some amazing things started to happen as

As a tour guide of Israel, this is the question I have been asked most often over the last month or so: When is Israel opening up for tourism? Yesterday Israel reached what was supposed to be the end of the internal opening up stage. The last things were supposed to open - our Stage 3 - however is on hold due to a rise in daily infection rates (though serious cases have been holding steady, likely because most of the infections were happening via the school system, and overa

Ah Israelis.... They will always find ways to innovate and be revolutionary. If you go outside in Israel today, like in many countries, you will find the older generation being very good about wearing masks, the middle generation being so-so about it and the younger generation seemingly oblivious to what's going on (and yes I know I am generalizing but after two weeks of walking around outside now, it's a pretty true generalization). Many people wear them, just not covering

So I went to the Old City of Jerusalem for the first time in over 3 months. That place which is like a second home for any tour guide of Israel, was eerily silent. No crowds. No tourists. Now not only were there men's and women's sections, but those sections were carved up into even smaller sections. Like living in an alternate reality. Here are a few photos and a video for you to peruse. Don't forget to follow me on FB, Instagram and/or Twitter to get all my blog post u

As a tour guide of Israel, I often get asked about the Palestinians as well as Israel's relationship with them. Well, here are some notable things happening on the other side of the fence/line/barrier/tracks... The Temple Mount is now open again post-Corona and Ramadan/Eid-al-Fitr, albeit with a number of restrictions. Along the same vein, the Palestinian Authority has now opened up their territory following 2 months of lockdown. It was rather successful as [only] 3 people w

Israel is one of the leading countries in search for a coronavirus vaccine. Here are the six leading candidates coming out of Israel right now... Who knows, maybe you can meet them on my next Israel tech tour. https://www.israel21c.org/6-coronavirus-vaccine-developments-from-israel-to-watch/ And in a sadly predictable situation, many of them found their websites hacked last week by people who would prefer hurting Israel to saving life on this planet. https://www.i24news.tv/e

Proving yet again that the kleptocratic Palestinian leadership cares nothing for their own people and would rather see them die if it scores points against Israel, the Palestinian Authority rejected this week 16 tons of medical aid, including 10 ventilators, because it came via Israel. The United Arab Emirates, which does not have official ties with Israel but has been warming up to Israel due to their shared concerns about Iran, organized a cargo plane to fly the aid to Ben