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Kobi Tour Guide of Israel
- Nov 13, 2020
- 2 min
Israel Signs Deals to Receive Russian & US COVID-19 Vaccines
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
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Kobi Tour Guide of Israel
- Nov 9, 2020
- 2 min
Israel Opens Airport COVID Test Center + More Tourism News
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
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Kobi Tour Guide of Israel
- Oct 26, 2020
- 2 min
Israeli COVID-19 Vaccine Gets a Name & Begins Human Trials
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
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Kobi Tour Guide of Israel
- Oct 23, 2020
- 3 min
A Top Palestinian Leader is Being Treated in an Israeli Hospital
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
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Kobi Tour Guide of Israel
- Oct 21, 2020
- 3 min
Israel is Open Again and Letting in Tourists from 34 Countries
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
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Kobi Tour Guide of Israel
- Oct 12, 2020
- 2 min
Israeli Peace Deals with Lebanon, Jordan, UAE and Hamas?
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
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Kobi Tour Guide of Israel
- Oct 7, 2020
- 1 min
Israel Covid Update: Airport Testing, Life-Saving Treatments & Masks!
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
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Kobi Tour Guide of Israel
- Aug 16, 2020
- 2 min
Visitors from 20 Countries Can Enter Israel Without Quarantine
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
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Kobi Tour Guide of Israel
- Aug 14, 2020
- 1 min
Made in Israel.. a 1-Second Saliva-Based Coronavirus Test
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:/
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Kobi Tour Guide of Israel
- Jun 27, 2020
- 1 min
Online Conference on June 30: Covid-19 and the Jews: Challenges and Opportunities
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
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Kobi Tour Guide of Israel
- Jun 24, 2020
- 1 min
Hotel Corona: Where Israelis, Palestinians, Religious and Secular Live Together
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
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Kobi Tour Guide of Israel
- Jun 16, 2020
- 2 min
When Is Israel Opening Up For Tourism?
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
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Kobi Tour Guide of Israel
- Jun 10, 2020
- 2 min
Israelis Struggle With Wearing Masks - For 1 Unique Reason
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
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Kobi Tour Guide of Israel
- Jun 6, 2020
- 1 min
The Western Wall During Coronavirus
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
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Kobi Tour Guide of Israel
- Jun 2, 2020
- 4 min
Pulse on Palestine: 10 Major Developments with Our Neighbors
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
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Kobi Tour Guide of Israel
- May 31, 2020
- 1 min
Israelis Search for a Coronavirus Vaccine - While Fending Off Hackers
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
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Kobi Tour Guide of Israel
- May 22, 2020
- 2 min
Palestinians Reject 16 Tons of Medical Aid Because it Came Through Israel
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
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Kobi Tour Guide of Israel
- May 21, 2020
- 1 min
Webinar About Israel's Reopening Plan & What the World Can Learn from Israel's Response to Covid-19
Starting very soon - 6PM Israel Time - 11AM EST - there will be a panel of Israeli journalists analyzing Israel's multi-phase reopening plan, model day-after scenarios and discussing what North America can learn from Israel's response to COVID-19. To join the webinar visit https://virtualjcc.com/register. Don't forget to follow me on FB, Instagram and/or Twitter to get all my blog post updates: https://twitter.com/israeltourguy/ https://www.instagram.com/tourguideofisrael htt
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Kobi Tour Guide of Israel
- May 21, 2020
- 2 min
When Can We Travel to Israel Again? A 1-minute COVID-19 test?
As a tour guide of Israel, I keep getting questions from people about when will it be safe to come to Israel. My response is generally the same: Israel will be opening up to "safe" countries at some point this summer (though not before June 14). In larger countries, such as the USA, it might be on a city by city basis. In order to make this happen, however, there will need to be testing that can be done quickly and efficiently at airports before check-in and again upon arri
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