Are You Sure You Should Come to Israel? (That's what the headlines want you to ask yourself!)

Suzanne Lieberman
6 days ago
5 min read

Updated: 5 days ago

The ink was barely dry on my blog about whether families really need a bulletproof bus to travel around Israel, when I saw a new headline. "Travel warning: State Department urges Americans to reconsider travel to Israel."

Another warning. Another headline. Another reminder that, apparently, travelling to Israel is something we should all be very worried about.

And I thought: Hang on a second.

Because if you're sitting thousands of miles away, thinking about bringing your family to Israel over the next few weeks, I can understand why you might be worried.

Look at any of the headlines in the mainstream media. Look at the warnings.

And then look at the number of people who are still getting on planes and coming.

So which is it?

First, let's be clear.

Travel advisories exist for a reason. Israel is not risk-free. It hasn't been for a very long time, and anyone telling you otherwise isn't being honest with you.

There are times when certain areas of Israel are not suitable for tourists to travel to.

Security conditions can change quickly, too. Anyone travelling here needs to understand that.

But here's the interesting part. The headline makes it sound as though the United States has suddenly issued a new warning about travelling to Israel.

It hasn't.

The State Department's latest advisory continues to put Israel at Level 3 - “Reconsider Travel.” There are also specific areas at Level 4 - “Do Not Travel”- because of armed conflict.

Those warnings are serious, and they shouldn't be ignored.

But the overall Level 3 advisory hasn't suddenly changed.

And that made me wonder how much can really be communicated about travelling to an entire country in one frightening headline.

In other words, this wasn't a sudden announcement that Israel had somehow become dramatically more dangerous this week.

Yet if all you saw was the headline, you might quite reasonably think that was exactly what had happened.

And that got me thinking. What does Israel actually look like to someone who isn't here?

Because there are really two Israels: There's the Israel we see on the news: The Israel of war; of missiles; of soldiers; of borders; of security warnings; of dramatic headlines telling us to reconsider our travel plans.

And then there's the Israel that visitors actually experience: People walking through the Old City of Jerusalem; restaurants and beaches full of people; Machene Yehuda shuk buzzing with locals and tourists; children running around hotel swimming pools; hikers on trails; tourists taking photographs; families celebrating Bar and Bat Mitzvahs; people sitting in cafés, drinking coffee and arguing about absolutely nothing to do with the war.

In other words - normal life.

That's what can be so difficult to explain to someone who isn't here. Israel can be a country facing very real security threats and a country where daily life feels remarkably normal.

Those two things don't contradict each other. They exist side by side.

I see this with my clients. People arrive having spent weeks, sometimes months, reading the news. They've seen the headlines. They've had friends and relatives asking: "Are you sure it's safe to go?"

Some have postponed their trips already. Some have spent hours debating whether to come at all.

And then they arrive.

And within hours, I often hear some version of: "Wow. This feels so much more normal than we expected."

Not because there is no risk.

Not because Israelis don't think about security.

We absolutely do.

We follow the news - religiously. We pay attention to instructions. We change plans when circumstances require it.

But we also go to work. We go shopping. We meet friends for coffee. We take our children out. We go to restaurants. We go on vacation. And we welcome visitors.

And that's particularly relevant right now, because over the next few weeks, thousands of people are expected to arrive in Israel for the Chagim.

Families. Tour groups. First-time visitors. People who come every year. People who have decided that after postponing their trip once, twice or even more, they're finally coming.

They will arrive having seen the headlines. They'll have read the warnings.

Some may even be a little nervous as they board the plane.

And then they'll land at Ben Gurion Airport.

And they'll discover something that is very difficult to convey through a news report.

Israel feels... normal. Not perfectly normal. Not risk-free. But normal.

Which brings me back to the news item.

When you look at a collection of news headlines about Israel, it's easy to build a picture in your mind of what life here must be like.

And if that picture is your only reference point, I can completely understand why someone might think: "Maybe this isn't the year to bring my family."

But a headline doesn't give the full story.

So, is Israel safe?

Maybe that's actually the wrong question.

Because "safe" isn't a yes-or-no answer.

The better question might be:

Is Israel safe enough for my family, for this particular trip, at this particular time?

And according to the feedback I received from last week' blog I can state with certainty, that the overwhelming response I received is "Yes," Israel is safe enough for my family, for this particular trip, at this particular time."

For those of you who have visited Israel recently, I'd genuinely love to know:

Did Israel feel the way you expected it to feel before you arrived?

Or did the reality surprise you?

Are You Sure You Should Come to Israel? (That's what the headlines want you to ask yourself!)

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