10 things you should be aware of before visiting Israel 2023

10 things you should be aware of before visiting Israel 2023

Shabbat
Shabbat falls on Friday afternoons and lasts until sundown on Saturday nights. Which means anything Jewish ran will be closed. When I was in Jerusalem on Shabbat, it was like a ghost town in the Jewish part of town. 
However, the Muslim section is still open. So I ate and shopped at Muslim ran establishments; however, the buses were closed, but you could take a taxi.

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Israel is still a country at war.
Being from the US, we hear this, but do we really grasp the gravity of the statement? 
Before I left for Israel, I looked into this, and it said the war was mainly in a few areas, and as long as you avoid those parts of town, you are fine. 
Then I read a thread, and some girl wrote, you have to understand the country is in an active war; sometimes the planes are rerouted due to missiles. So I thought it would be in certain areas, and it wasn't.

When I was there, the attack on Jenin happened, we heard bombings in the middle of the night, and those on the farm also told me they heard gunshots frequently. 

I was a 20-minute drive from the activity, and the next day the town was full of soldiers. The Israelis on the farm said it is part of life in Israel, and yes, most who visit do not understand what it is like to live in an active war zone.
Also, while I was there, an attack happened in Tel Aviv; a man drove his car into a coffee shop (pretty sure one I went to previously), got out, and started stabbing people. A civilian took him down. 
So a country at war is something we should not be naive about, which brings me to the next topic.
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Soldiers carry guns everywhere, including on the train, buses, and walking around.
Everywhere you go, from stepping off the plane until the moment you leave the country, you will see soldiers. 
You will see them waiting for a bus with their guns; they are big guns, not just a pistol on their waist. Plus, they look like kids since most join the army at 18. 
Even being there for almost two months, it still never got normal to me, and one of the girls on the farm said
 ¨we forget that most countries do not have soldiers with guns walking around; it has become so normal to us¨.

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RavKav or Moovit app.
If you are planning on taking any form of public transportation, you must have one of these. 
I chose the RavKav as you can buy it at the airport, and it is easy to use. You can even add money at Atm's in Jerusalem and all over the country. I ran into a few people who did not have one, and the bus driver kicked them off the bus; you cannot pay with cash and must use your card or Moovit app. 
Typically you have to buy them at a bus station, not a bus stop, and I always added the minimum 30 shekels and refilled them when needed. Supplying them is more straightforward than finding the card to buy, so at the airport, buy it just in case.

Read the rest of the article below it would not all fit here!

#israel #middleeast #travel

Timestamps
.09 Party in TelAviv or Day parties
.36 Intro
.48 A country at war
3:03 Soldiers
4:51 RavKav or Moovit app
6:26 What to wear
7:52 Weekends/Shabbat
8:35 Food
10:11 Do you have to be religious to visit
12:31 Credit cards vs cash
13:17 Health/Fitness
13:50 Conclusion