joshwex90

Congratulations on taking a thread, albeit heated, on Israeli Immigration procedures, and completely twisting it into something it isn't. If you want to debate Israeli policies, that's what OMNI/PR is for. Your small comments of maybe finding unusual difficulties are extraneous at best.

What does an ultra-right wing government (which it isn't) have to do with anything? What does 300,000 Israelis protesting the government (which is NOT the case, except according to PressTV and FARS) have to do with anything?

I suggest you learn your facts about Israel, and then bash it in OMNI/PR, and leave this forum to people who want to visit Israel.

joshwex90

[QUOTE=donnabella;16875441it is a well known fact, and one that has been clearly illustrated on here, that Israeli immigration treat Jews differently to non Jews, and then again, others with certain affiliations are treated entirely differently, so forgive me if I don't feel satisfied with the replies that comes from evidently Jewish and pro Israel posters here.[/QUOTE]

I'm Jewish and pro-Israel, so if this clouds my post, I'm sorry. I understand your concerns, but you also should understand how others feel about helping you when you come in, arguing with other peoples' first-hand experiences, and saying "you're Jewish or Zionist, so your answer means nothing to me." That sounds childish, and a little racist. I'm 100% NOT implying you are; simply saying how it comes across.

Regardless, as I pointed out before, there is racial profiling. It sucks, but it's neccesary and works. That being said, for most Christian looking Anglos, I've never seen them take more than 10 minutes, unless things aren't adding up. Assuming you have nothing to hide, you shouldn't take more than 5-10 minutes. Is that more time than it takes me when I enter Israel (30 seconds,) or when I enter USA (1 minute)? Sure. But again, 10 minutes is not the end of the world.

donnabella

Thanks for your reply.
I am afraid I still disagree with Israel not denying entry, I have heard otherwise in the last month.
I am aware of the UAE situation, as it is at present, but as with everything in the ME, that is always subject to change!
I do have plans for a trip to Lebanon in the future, so having Israeli stamps in a brand new 10 year passport will be a pita.

You say Israel has no problem with UAE stamps, however I have heard of people having to account in detail for each trip to Arab countries, in depth, at Immigration.
Again, perhaps your experience differs!




sorry, you misunderstood my comment, I was referring to racial profiling on here, a comment by a previous poster.

It is disingenuous to claim Israel is no different to any other country in the world, though perhaps not much different to any other ME country granted.

stimpy

You are welcome to disagree, but my points are completely accurate and very appropriate towards travel to Israel. I could make the same type of points about America, Venezuela, China, etc. and you can indeed find the same type of posts regarding those countries here on Flyertalk in travel forums. It is something any traveler should be aware of.

And regarding the protests, you forgot to include CNN, BBC, Le Monde, etc. which not only wrote about the protests, but recorded it on video and photos. It's really kind of foolish to claim it didn't happen.

donnabella

Exactly stimpy, it is very relevant, and the advice given to me to disregard my fears from the Jewish posters here are about as helpful as a Yank telling a person of ME appearance not to worry about US immigration!

My ex partner is Arab and we have travelled world wide together, so believe me I know all about racial profiling first hand, I have seen it in action, on one short trip over to the Bahamas from Miami for a weekend, the female Immigration clerk called out along the line...... WE HAVE AN A-RAB HERE!!!!!!!

I have also seen him extensively questioned at LHR, whilst I waited on the other side incredulously for an hour. That was pre 9/11 too.

I have been told to expect to allow 3+ hours at Israeli immigration, from several first hand sources. It is my first trip there, I am visiting just before the UN vote on Palestine, and am a realist. Don't tell me it will be plain sailing, although I am happy to come back and report on my experience after the event!

joshwex90

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.2.1; en-us; ADR6400L 4G Build/FRG83D) AppleWebKit/533.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/533.1)

Before you call me foolish, read my post. I never said the protests aren't happening; I said no one's protesting against the government. Protesting housing prices is not "protesting the regime"

stimpy

You obviously didn't read the stories, or watch the video which included actual protesters railing against the current government and Prime Minister Netanyahu specifically. It is a situation that has already escalated out of control so anyone planning a trip to Israel should be paying attention to this.

In fact, the "Arab Spring" should be called the "Middle East Spring" as it has arrived in Israel. And just like every other government that has been hit by this, there will surely be denial then possibly reprisals.

l etoile

The original poster asked some questions looking for helpful answers. Unfortunately, some have tried to turn this into a political thread. I have removed several of those unhelpful comments, many of which included personal attacks. I don't want to see this go to OMNI as it should be a forum where travelers can ask questions and get straight-forward responses based on experience sans any political/religious commentary. Political events in a country have an impact on travelers, so those are certainly important to mention, but to turn it into a thread about your own thoughts and opinions on that is entirely inappropriate.

Please stick to the questions posted. Those who refuse to do so may find their posting ability on FlyerTalk curtailed.

l'etoile
sr. moderator

jms_uk

To bring this topic back on track

I am planning a short trip in early September and was wondering where I will have potentially longest security check:

(I have Egypt visa in my passport from 2009 and will add Lebanon and Jordan prior to entering Israel. I have been to Morocco but on the previous passport.)

- land crossing between Aqaba and Eilat
- flight ETH-TLV
- flight out of TLV

stimpy

IME it's the flight out of TLV where you experience the longest wait time. But as I said above, in these times you really don't know for sure. Be prepared for long waits, and count yourself lucky if it's quick.

joshwex90

If I'm not mistaken, you don't actually have to use your passport when flying ETH-TLV. I could be wrong, but that's what I think.

The land crossing is an immigration check, whereas the flight out of TLV is a security check. The immigration could potentially take longer, but when it comes to the flight, the check happens while on line to check in your luggage. Again, assuming you have nothing to hide, that check doesn't take too long. You should expect 5-15 minutes. The actual hand luggage check, with the WTMD actually goes pretty quickly.

I believe it is important to discuss this so people know what to expect if they plan on visiting Israel. You are misleading people into thinking the situation is worse than it is. The people protesting in Israel are akin to rallies that happen in Washington D.C. Protesting rising prices are in NO way akin to people protesting oppressive dictatorships in Egypt, Libya... This is an important point to stress. People visiting Israel may see students and the like holding peaceful rallies. There will be NOTHING LIKE WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE REST OF THE MIDDLE EAST. A tiny minority may have complained against Bibi, but it's not a protest against the "regime." If that were the case, I'd recommend never leaving one's house. I saw people in front of CVS, protesting against CVS because it's non-union. Does that mean don't visit San Francisco until protests in that city subside?

stimpy

Yes it is important and that is why I brought it up. I think maybe you are having a knee-jerk reaction to my post, but I mostly just pointed people to responsible journalistic sources so they can make up their own minds. That said, I very much believe that it is getting worse every day. In fact the media is reporting a even larger rally next Saturday with much more than 300,000 protesters. If the trend continues unchecked, it's going to be very bad.

The uprising in Tunisia started in a very similar way. With one guy getting ultimately fed up, and taking an action which led many to support him. I see a lot of similarities. And if you don't believe the Israeli government is oppressive, then you obviously don't spend much time with the majority of people living there.

All these points I am making should be considered by any traveler. Maybe you are fine with dealing with the possible problems, or maybe you want a more peaceful vacation somewhere else. Either way it's something to consider.

joshwex90

Having served in the military there for a year and a half, actually encountering people there, living there, having organized some of the protests myself, taken part in some of them... I think I'm qualified to say this. And no, I haven't seen reports that claim Israelis are protesting the government and regime. They are protesting the higher cost of living (house prices, rent, dairy, gasoline to be specific). This is different than Tunisia as you mentioned where they protested a brutal totalitarian government.

stimpy

Well it's a case of he said, she said. No matter, as long as people think for themselves and do a bit of research before their trip.

MrHalliday

I travelled from TLV to Eilat, crossed into Jordan,
up to Petra, back to Jerusalem via Allenby,
and flew out of TLV. Nothing very dramatic at any border,
had US PP with Oman and UAE stamps...