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September tourism to Israel increased by 44 percent from same time last year

Between January and September, nearly 3.3 million tourists entered the country, compared to 2.9 million over the same period in 2018.

An El Al Boeing 787 Dreamliner arrives at Ben-Gurion International Airport. Photo by Tomer Neuberg/Flash90.
An El Al Boeing 787 Dreamliner arrives at Ben-Gurion International Airport. Photo by Tomer Neuberg/Flash90.

As many as 405,000 tourists visited Israel in September—a 44 percent jump from last year, according to the Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics in a report published on Sunday in the business daily Calcalist.

And between January and September this year, nearly 3.3 million tourists entered the country, compared to 2.9 million over the same period in 2018.

August was the busiest month on record for Ben-Gurion International Airport with 2.8 million passengers, the Israel Airports Authority announced last month, noted the report, adding that the most popular destinations for flights departing Israel were to Turkey, Greece, Italy, Russia and the United States.

Meanwhile, Israelis are expected to travel to Egypt’s Sinai in larger numbers this year during the holiday season.

“This political environment could discourage congressional committee staff and federal agency personnel from pursuing investigations or enforcement actions involving antisemitism,” Karen Paikin Barall of the Brandeis Center told JNS.
“They get social credit within their political bases in terms of talking about settler violence and and taking up the side of the Palestinians on issues between them and Israel,” Rafael Mangual of the Manhattan Institute told JNS.
The U.S. envoy also said antisemitism “didn’t exist” during his upbringing and warned of an unintended clash between Israel and Turkey.
“There is not, and there will not be, a Palestinian state,” the Israeli prime minister pledged. He also called for the corruption trial against him to be dropped.