Mejdi Tours is resuming tours of Israel this spring, pledging to cover the Israel-Hamas war from both Israeli and Palestinian perspectives.
The Delray Beach, Florida-based company is known for tours focused on social change, typically led by Israeli and Palestinian guides. Mejdi will resume its existing tours of Israel starting March 9, but will also add a six-day itinerary called Israel and Palestine Beyond the Headlines.
“No company today is brave enough and willing enough to offer an additional narrative,” says Kim Passy Yoseph, director of operations at Mejdi Tours. “Everyone clings so strongly to their own narrative and to the ideas that one side has, and only one side. “I’m on a journey of focus.”
The company describes the trip as “a journey that aims to bring travelers together with guides, experts, communities, families and organizations to go beyond the headlines to better understand what's happening on the ground and to support people as they continue to pursue their goals.” It was revealed. A more just and peaceful future.”
Mejdi Tours Operations Director Kim Passy Yoseph. Photo credit: Mejdi Tours
Joseph helped create a tour to counter the growing number of current Israeli tours that take guests to areas where hundreds of Israelis were killed on October 7, kibbutz communities targeted by Hamas in early morning attacks, and places where music is played. He said he gave it to me. There are festivals under siege and hotels where Israeli refugees have been living since October.
Joseph said a rabbi recently came to her and asked for a group tour.
“They want to see the broken down house. They want to see where the party was. They want to go to the hotel. My stomach was turning,” Joseph said. “It was so hard to hear that someone wanted to come and see it as if it were a site and not the reality we already live in.”
Joseph said his childhood friend was held hostage by Hamas for 54 days and is still coping with the experience.
“There were people who had been there (since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7) and had never seen their house, while others were walking around taking pictures and talking about it,” she said.
Ya'lla Tours adds meeting with war reporter
Ya'lla Tours USA, a North Carolina-based company that specializes in travel to the Middle East and the Mediterranean, plans to resume its traditional Israel tours in May, with pilgrimage tours resuming in late August. The company will also offer an optional one-day extension consisting of meetings with local journalists who have covered the war, said Ronen Paldi, president of Ya'lla from Israel.
With permission from the Israeli military, Ya'lla will take guests to southern Israel, where many kibbutz communities have been abandoned by the war.
Israel's Ya'lla Tours guide addresses guests. Photo credit: Ya'lla Tours
Paldi said the visit and discussions with local journalists will help travelers understand the ripple effects of the damage caused to the communities most affected by the attacks. The extension will not be promoted or marketed and will be surveyed by interested customers to determine how genuine their level of interest is and why they want to go, Paldi said.
“We are waiting for them to approach us,” Paldi said. “I want to make sure they’re not just doing it to take a selfie, they’re really interested and have a lot of empathy.”
Israeli air service is on the rise
The Israel-Hamas war has led many tour operators to cancel trips to Israel for the summer or throughout 2024. Airlift has not returned to normal since airlines suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv after the war began, but many European airlines have resumed service and El Al is expanding its U.S. service this spring. Paldi has not yet announced a return, but said more airlines, including U.S. carriers, plan to resume service by May.
Greater flight availability is one of the reasons Paldi said Ya'lla Tours decided to resume tours to Israel this spring.
“Starting today, most European airlines, low-cost and scheduled airlines, are returning to Israel, and by May all U.S. airlines will do the same,” Paldi said. “If airlines decide Israel is safe to fly, why wouldn’t tourists fly there?”
Paldi also said that despite the ongoing war, daily life in Israel is starting to return to a more normal state. He added that of the 330,000 reservists conscripted for the war, nearly 200,000 have begun to be released. “We are 90% back to how we were before October 7.” Schools, universities, shopping malls, stadiums, museums and theaters are fully operational again.
“We, like everyone else, are slowly taking small steps to attract tourists here. We will be fully operational in the fall and in 2025,” Paldi said. “The war in Gaza is in an area we don't visit and don't visit. The distance from Gaza to Jerusalem is 90 miles, and the distance from Gaza to Galilee is 160 miles. Tourists will never go near a war zone.”
Getting travel insurance in Israel is difficult
Despite efforts to bring international travel back to Israel, challenges such as obtaining travel insurance to Israel remain.
“Insurance is a big issue,” Joseph said. “Travelers are having a hard time getting insurance.”
Joseph said some parts of Israel are considered to be in a war zone. This means that parts of the country are closed to the public and tour operations are limited.
“Parts of the north are closed off as war zones, and much of the south is under blockade, so you can’t travel regularly even if you wanted to,” Joseph said.
Caesarea Maritima ruins on the northern coast of Israel. Photo credit: Ya'lla Tours
Blocked access around Israel has also been difficult for some of the local tour guides hired by the company. Joseph said he was from the West Bank and had difficulty getting through certain checkpoints.
Additionally, Joseph said, there had been a lot of rocket fire in central Israel at some point recently, so the tour couldn't be planned around a visit to the national park because it would require being close to bomb shelters.
“I think it's getting a little easier now, but we're getting questions like, 'Are we going to be close to a shelter? Are the hotels prepared for this situation if a rocket launches?'” Joseph said. , adding that this uncertainty is part of the reason why it is currently difficult to get insurance for travel to Israel.
