Should I be worried about Israel right now?

Question

My sister is planning on going to Haifa with her boyfriend because he will get deported if he does not go back on his own accord. So with it being so close to the west bank and all, i can't help but be worried because she plans on staying there until he can re enter america legally. She is really young and has never been on her own before, Help!

Answer 1

My mother just got back from a visit to Israel.  She has gone before.  She doesn't worry one bit about going.  She says the places that most tourists go (like Haifa) are NOT part of the hot spots...She's 75!  If she isn't worried, I don't worry about her.

Answer 2

Worry more about her age, naivete and inexperience in life than anything else, and listen to your heart.  If you feel something terrible will happen, do not ignore that feeling.

Answer 3

As far as safety is concerned, I would say don't be worried (I know, it's easier said than done).  The media makes it worse than it seems, all my family lives in Israel and I just got back.  

As far as her hebrew is concerned, that is most definitely NOT a concern.  Everyone speaks english and they look forward to speaking it when they have a "native" english speaker around.

I would tell your sister to have a plan B, though.  What happens if he doesn't get back into the country?  I don't know how young she is, but experiencing a new culture with someone she trusts is amazing, and it'll teach her things she wouldn't otherwise get....

Answer 4

For the exact reasons I had to cancel my daughter's summer trip to Israel,my dear Jennifer.

There is absolutely no way anyone that can predict when or where a Palestinian guerrilla will retaliate within Israel.

I would postpone my trip to Israel, if I were you (or your sister)  until both sides sit around a table and start talking peace.

Not only then I'd feel more safe but also I'd use this trip to encourage and welcome peace.

In any case I wish your sister the best of times.

Answer 5

You have nothing to worry about.

Haifa is a safe and beautiful place.

All young people talk English, so there will not be a language problem

Besides:

Tourism has increased by 30% in Haifa since last summer, mostly due to traffic from businessmen, individual tourists and groups of Christian and Bahai pilgrims. In addition, the average occupancy at city hotels during the first months of 2008 - 65% - has outpaced the national average, 62%, for the first time. Haifa hotels saw some 120,000 bookings between January and May, compared to 93,000 bookings countrywide. The growth is so marked that Haifa is planning to build an additional 1,800 rooms in 10 hotels to keep up with the tourists.

The spurt in tourism is expected to continue, with hotel occupancy in Haifa expected to reach between 75% and 80% by the end of the year, said Haifa Hotel Association director Adi Maor.



"Haifa is one of the most beautiful cities in the world and has so far not succeeded in joining the leading tourism cities," Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav told reporters last week. "In the past four years we have made a concerted marketing effort to promote this, the largest city in Israel's north, in order to make Haifa a main tourism site for visitors to the north. We have prepared programs that offer tourists day trips to Nazareth and Tiberias, with their sleeping base in Haifa." Since the end of the Second Lebanon War in the summer of 2006, the city and the Tourism Ministry have invested some NIS 10 million in promoting tourism and tourism-related businesses in Haifa.

The average tourist stay in Haifa has increased from two nights to four nights, said Moshe Zurich, who heads the Haifa Tourist Board. The longer stay, he said, does not just benefit the hotels.

"Every night that a tourist stays provides employment for three workers during the day," said Zurich.

Haifa has also increased its presence on the conventions map, and will be hosting more than 100 conventions lasting three or four nights, including tours for participants.

As part of a program to promote domestic tourism, the tourist board is launching a NIS 600,000 campaign this weekend, its biggest ever, in which it will offer free activities to guests who stay for two or more nights. But there is a cloud to the silver lining: The tourism industry is doing so well in Haifa that there is a shortage of hotel rooms to house all the city's visitors.

"We urgently need another 1,000 hotel rooms, to supplement the existing 1,500," said Zurich, noting that the procedural infrastructure has been prepared for an additional 1,800 rooms in 10 hotels that are in various stages of planning and construction. The plans include a 40-room hotel in Haifa's German Colony, due to open by the end of this year, 250 rooms in the Castra Centre and 200 rooms on the former Marcus army base; all are currently in the tenders stage.

Other plans in the works include an additional 200 rooms in the Egged compound, 400 rooms in Hof Carmel and 100 rooms in the Carmelite region.

Answer 6

What is young?  Is she finished with school?

I wouldn't worry too much about the violence in Israel.  It couldn't be any worse than a country where you can get killed by teenagers with guns doing drive-bys for fun.

I would worry about a girl leaving her responsibilities undone to follow a Boyfriend across the ocean.

I would figure his family probably speaks more English than you think.  At any rate if she is supporting Their son and willing to convert his family will watch her like a hawk.

I would use the old Ben Franklin method of study.  Make a list of good things, a list of bad things and see which is longer.  For her not for you.

Answer 7

It will be a difficult time for her for sure if she stays by her own. She should also consider her plans if he can not return back?

Edit:

It is different now. If she was my sister, I would say: NO

No way to stay while he is away.

Answer 8

Your sister should be okay. Haifa is an hour north of Tel-Aviv, and Tel-Aviv is safe... I've been there enough times, believe me. I don't know if there is any difference in safety between Haifa and Tel-Aviv, but if she is in Tel-Aviv she will be fine! :)

Answer 9

believe or not, but people do fine there.

Israelis youth are more independent & mature than USA

youth. I believe you acquire the traits of your environment.

So, if anything visit to Israel will most likely make her more mature.

Israel has better social life, and very good integration programs for newcomers.

Haifa close to West Bank? everthing is close to each other, it's a small country. Yet, Haifa is actually pretty far from risky areas.  Shelters in a house is a good thing. Almost all shelters in israel are used as storage area(like garages without cars)