By A Blackburn & Verghese V Joseph –
Israel is a destination for travellers from around the world and this dates back from the ancient Temple times, to the Crusades and to the modern rebirth of the nation with its vibrant and diverse culture.
Christians particularly love to experience the land where Jesus and many other biblical figures walked. It is common for Christian visitors to view themselves as pilgrims, returning year after year.
The India Angle
Geographical analysis of Israel suggests that the authors of Old Testament were talking about India, where the trade of animals such as monkeys and peacocks existed. According to Chaim Menachem Rabin, the connection between ancient Israel and the Indian subcontinent, was recorded during the reign of King Solomon (10th century BCE) in I Kings 10.22. Ancient trade and cultural communication between India and the Levant is documented in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea and the accounts surrounding Queen of Sheba in the Hebrew Bible.
The trade relations of both communities can be traced back to 1,000 BCE and earlier to the time of the Indus valley civilization of the Indian subcontinent and the Babylonian culture of Middle East. A Buddhist story describes Indian merchants visiting Baveru (Babylonia) and selling peacocks for public display. Similar, earlier accounts describe monkeys exhibited to the public. Trade connections between India and Palestine and Mediterranean Jewish communities continued, and later, the languages of these cultures started to share linguistic similarities.
Judea played a minor role in trade between the Roman Empire and India during the period of Roman rule in Judea. It is known that there were expensive garments in the Temple in Jerusalem imported from India via Alexandria.
Kerala’s Cochin Jews, also called Malabar Jews, are of Mizrahi and Sephardi heritage. They are the oldest group of Jews in India, with possible roots claimed to date to the time of King Solomon. The Cochin Jews settled in the Kingdom of Cochin in South India.
Political & Trade Ties
After decades of non-aligned and pro-Arab policy, India formally established relations with Israel when it opened an embassy in Tel Aviv in January 1992. Ties between the two nations have flourished since, primarily due to common strategic interests and security threats.
In 2003, Ariel Sharon was the first Israeli Prime Minister to visit India. In July 2017, Narendra Modi became the first ever Indian Prime Minister to visit Israel.
During the trip, Prime Minister Modi also addressed the Indian diaspora in Israel in a highly televised event in Tel Aviv. In illustrating an Indian welcome to the Indian diaspora from its homeland, he announced Overseas Citizenship of India cards for Jews of Indian origin who had completed their compulsory military service in the Israel Defense Force and also pledged the construction of a major Indian cultural centre in Tel Aviv.
In January 2018, to commemorate 25 years of Indian-Israeli relations, a highly televised visit of the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu to India took place, during which both Netanyahu and India’s Prime Minister Modi have exchanged mutual applauses. This visit was the first since the 2003 visit of Ariel Sharon to India. Netanyahu, accompanied by a 130-member delegation, the largest that has ever accompanied a visiting Israeli premier, wants to increase exports to India by 25 percent over the three years. Israel is to invest $68.6 million in areas such as tourism, technology, agriculture and innovation over a period of four years.
Tourism Potential
According to government data, the number of tourists from India visiting Israel touched 15,900 in the year 2000. By 2010, the number of tourists had increased to 43,439. In 2014, the number of tourists from India visiting Israel was 34,900. A popular destination for Indian tourists traveling to Israel is Jerusalem. In part of 2010, Indian tourists were the biggest spenders in Israel, spending an average of $1,364 per tourist; the average tourist expenditure in Israel during this time was $1,091.
In 2011, representatives from both countries met in Delhi, and planned to enhance tourism through collaboration in the spheres of destination management and promotion, as well as in manpower development. Plans for tour-operators and travel agents in both countries to coordinate were also discussed. In 2015, 600 travel agents from India arrived in Israel for the annual Travel Agents Federation of India conference, and ways to decrease barriers to tourism were discussed. Currently El AL Airlines flies between Tel Aviv and Mumbai and Air India flies between Delhi and Tel Aviv.
In March 2018, Air India, operating flight number AI139, became the first airline to fly non-stop from New Delhi to Tel Aviv, via the airspace of Saudi Arabia, overturning an overfly ban on flights to Israel that had lasted 70 years. Currently, Air India is the only airline in the world that has been given such permission, and indicates a behind-the-scenes improvement in relations between Israel and the Arab world. The new flight takes approximately 7 hours to traverse the distance between India and Israel, which is 2 hours and 10 minutes shorter than the route taken by EL AL from Mumbai to Tel Aviv. In recent days, the success of the route has prompted the airline to increase the frequency of flights to one each day.
In recent years, Israel has observed a constant rise in the number of Indian tourists to the country. Towards an additional effort to boost tourism from India, the Israeli government has simplified visa procedures for Indians who have already availed visas from either Canada, Australia, United States, Schengen countries or Israel and have completed their travel to these countries. Visa processing fees for Indian applicants has also been reduced from the original 1700 to 1100. In the year 2017, Indian tourist arrivals to Israel rose by 31%, with over 60,000 tourists visiting the country that year. Israel plans to meet a target of over 200,000 Indian tourists for the year 2019.
The Demand for Christian Tourism
The last several years in particular have seen an increase in Israeli tourism, reaching record numbers several years in a row.
“The year 2013 was Israel’s record year for incoming tourism with 3.54 million visitor entries,” the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. “Christians represented more than half of all incoming tourists […] In total, over two million Christians visited Israel in 2013.” (mfa.gov.il)
Five years later, in 2018, that number was up to about 2.5 million. According to Tourism Minister Yariv Levin, “[2018] saw an increase in tourist arrivals of 13 percent compared to 2017, and 38 percent compared to 2016 … more than 4 million tourists in a year.” (Times of Israel)
Unfortunately, the records expected in 2020 will not be set. There are no tour groups that would typically be found flocking to the Mount of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane or Masada.
This year, instead, is setting records of another kind. Starting in late March, tour groups were sent back home, postponed or rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Dates for reopening the borders to non-residents into Israel have been pushed back several times. Currently, no new date has been announced.
Preparing to Welcome Visitors Again
“What we know is that there is a huge demand and thirst to come back to the land,” said Sar-El Tours General Manager Uri Avrouskine. “Once the skies will open, the prosperity of the last three to four years is expected to increase. Everyone is just waiting for a green light.”
Meanwhile, the travel industry here is readying itself for an influx of visitors whenever the borders will reopen. Sar-El is currently equipping its buses with special filters that purify the air from all kinds of viruses, including COVID-19. They are also working with their suppliers and contacts in Israel to make sure each one complies with safety regulations for safe tourism. As soon as the country opens, precautions will have already been put in place to welcome visitors once more, in a secure manner.
As many are waiting to come back to Israel or to visit for the first time, readers are welcome to visit the major sites of Israel virtually at www.sarelacademy.com until travel in and around the Holy Land is once again permitted.