Traveling to Israel — Visa and Security tips for Indians
My wife, son and I traveled to Israel in April 2018. The 12 days we spent in Israel was part of a month-long trip that took us to Egypt, Jordan, followed by Israel and ending with Turkey. I’m sharing my experiences in getting the Israeli visa and security procedures for entering and exiting the country in the hope that it may benefit those from India planning a trip to this beautiful and ancient land.
Indian citizens need a visa to visit Israel. We applied for the Israel visa through their agent, VFS. Full details are given here — http://www.israelvisa-india.com/index.aspx
The application form is to be downloaded from the Embassy’s website, filled in and submitted to the consulate through VFS along with supporting documents (IT returns, bank statement, air tickets, hotel accommodation, itinerary, insurance, etc.). Since we live in Bangalore and Israel has a consulate here, we were told by VFS that we might have to appear for a personal interview at the consulate.
However, on submission of the documents we were informed by VFS that the interview would not be required; the consulate had decided to issue us the visa based on our previous travel history and the valid US and UK visa that we held. The whole process took about 4 days from submission of documents to receipt of our passports with visas.
Entry into Israel:
Our plan was to fly into Amman (capital of Jordan) from Cairo, look around Jerash (northern Jordan), then drive south to Petra and Wadi Rum, return to Madaba (near Amman) and cross over to Israel through the Allenby Bridge border crossing. On arrival in Amman, we were told by our guide that since we would be crossing over to Israel on a Saturday (the day of Sabbath) and the Allenby Bridge would close by 2 pm that day we would have to be there latest by 11 am to ensure that we got across. This would necessitate us leaving Wadi Rum at 6 AM in the morning for the four-hour drive to Allenby Bridge.
Not wanting to rush things, we changed our plan. We would do Madaba first, followed by Petra and Wadi Rum and then cross over to Israel at Eilat (the Yitzhak Rabin crossing, the southern most crossing into Israel) and go to Jerusalem by taking another car on the Israeli side for the 4-hour drive. The Eilat crossing is open 24/7.
We left Wadi Rum at 10 AM and reached Aqaba (on the Jordan side) an hour later. At the border checkpoint, we unloaded our bags from the car and took them with us to Passport control. There was an airport type security check with bags being passed through the X-ray machine and the passports being exit stamped. There was no departure fee.
We then walked through a duty free shop and then for about 50 m on a paved walkway to the Israeli side of the checkpoint. The first encounter was with an Israeli officer (an automatic rifle slung over his shoulder) who glanced through our passports and asked me a few basic questions like how long we were going to be in Israel and what would we be doing. We were then directed to the security check where the bags were put through an X-ray machine and we walked through a doorframe metal detector. We were each given a green coloured card, which presumably indicated that the security check had been completed.
The next stop was passport control where a young lady asked all three of us a few questions like the relationship between us, our itinerary in Israel (she wanted to see the printed itinerary with hotel bookings) and if we had any friends in Israel. It was a pleasant 5–7 minutes conversation after which she took the green card from us and gave us an entry permit. Israel does not stamp the entry on the passport but instead gives a small printed blue slip of paper called the ‘Electronic Gate Pass’.
A few countries like Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Sudan (and perhaps Pakistan, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia) do not allow travelers with Israeli stamps on their passports (or any evidence that one has been to Israel) to enter their countries. It helps those folks who have visa free entry into Israel that Israel does not stamp their passport but gives an entry pass instead. However, this does not help Indian travelers as we need a visa to enter the country and the Israeli Visa is printed on the passport.
After passport control, we passed through Customs and through the Green channel. No questions were asked here. The final scrutiny was at the exit gate of the checkpoint where another friendly lady with a rifle, barely out of her teens, took a minute to glance at our exit pass and passport after which she waved us on to Israel. The whole process took about 15 minutes on the Jordanian side and 45 minutes on the Israeli side. Fortunately there was no queue; we were just a handful of travelers at that time. We had pre-arranged for a taxi to take us to Jerusalem that cost us about USD 300.
I had read some blogs where a few travelers had related horror stories about their experience at Israeli checkpoints, especially at the Allenby crossing, and I was apprehensive about the experience. Actually it was an easier and a far friendlier encounter compared to US Immigration at some US airports. Perhaps having a visa helped; those from visa free countries are subjected to more questioning is my guess. One just needs to get used to seeing 18-year olds casually toting automatic rifles.
Traveling within Israel:
We had hired a private mini-van with driver (a Palestinian Christian) and guide for sightseeing within Israel. Our tour took us to many places including some towns in the West Bank like Bethlehem, Hebron and Jericho. We were advised to carry our passports whenever we visited a West Bank town. The security in these towns is high with Israeli military guarding the entry/exit checkpoints. However there was never an occasion (except once) when we were asked to show our passports since the guide in the car displayed his Ministry of Tourism ID. That one occasion was when we were driving North through a West Bank area and at the exit into Israel our car was stopped and all of us were asked to show our passports. One needs to reiterate that at no point of time does one feel unsafe or threatened. The security presence is in fact quite reassuring.
Exiting Israel:
Exiting through Ben-Gurion airport was more stressful. We were warned about the high level of security and had thus planned on reaching the airport four hours before departure.
The security checkpoint is about a kilometer before the airport. All cars go through this security barrier. At the barrier the driver showed his ID and we showed our passports and I was asked how we had come into Israel, what we had done, if we had met anyone and our destination. I answered factually. Our driver was asked to pull aside. A couple of security officers with the usual guns approached our car and politely asked us to get down for further questioning and also to bring all our bags into the room for X-ray inspection.
Before we could do so, another officer, presumably their supervisor, came around and asked us to wait and then the three security men had an animated discussion. Going by their gestures I gathered that the supervisor wanted to let us go but the first chap wanted to question us. Finally, they reached a compromise. Only my son (he’s an adult) was asked to take his suitcase inside the room. They did not x-ray his suitcase; only his handbag was checked and he was asked if he was carrying weapons or drugs. On his reply in the negative our passports were returned and we were asked to move on. In the meanwhile our driver’s identification was checked and he was asked a few questions. He later told me that had he been an Israeli our car might not have been flagged down. Much as we may find it disagreeable, Israeli security profiles people racially and by religion. Having a Muslim/Arab name or a passport from an Arab/Muslim country would have led to far more intensive questioning as also if one were traveling by El Al (the Israeli airline; we were traveling by Turkish Airlines).
On reaching the airport, we checked in our bags and proceeded to security. It was chaotic. Being a public holiday only two security lines were in operation. It took us more than half an hour to clear security and then there was a long line for passport control. There was just one counter for foreign passports, two for Israeli citizens and a few machines for biometric passports. Finally after about 45 minutes we reached the head of the queue and instead of an exit stamp on the passport a pink exit slip was given.
Though we had reached the first security barrier at 10 AM for a 2.15 PM flight, we barely had twenty minutes to finish a sandwich lunch before boarding commenced at 1.30 PM. Getting out of the country was way more difficult than entering it!
Overall, our time in Israel was a very pleasant one. The security presence in Jerusalem and West Bank towns can be initially intimidating but one gets used to it. There is barely any overtly visible security presence in the Israeli cities of Tel Aviv or Haifa. Many young Israelis, especially the security folks, have traveled to India and usually make small talk about their visits to Goa, Ladakh or Himachal Pradesh. It’s actually nice to be an Indian in Israel; we are treated as friends by all sides.
