Our Israel partners sent the following letter to us today, which contains important information about the ceasefire in Israel. Please read this update to better understand the current situation in the Holy Land.
Dear Friends,
The ceasefire reached this week has hopefully brought the recent conflict between Israel and Hamas to a close. It has been a sad and distressing time, but Israel has a long history of resiliency to conflict and an eagerness to return to normalcy within a remarkably short period of time.
On September 1, more than a million Israeli children of all faiths will be returning to school after the summer break, and life moves on.
Even at the height of the conflict during the last 50 days, there were some 100,000 tourists in Israel whose travel plans remained largely unchanged. Also during those 50 days, Ben Gurion International Airport, considered by experts to be the most secure in the world, was fully operational, despite a 36-hour period in late July when some overseas airlines briefly paused its Tel Aviv flights. All travel has resumed to normal, with some 90 airlines operating their usual schedules to Israel, including as many as 10 flights daily nonstop from North America on Air Canada, Delta, EL AL, United and US Airways.
Israel’s vacation season is still in full swing, tourists and residents enjoying milder summer temperatures, which only begin to drop in November. Tourism sites, museums, holy places, attractions, hotels, restaurants, theaters, concerts halls and night spots are open and operating to capacity.
About a month from now, Israelis and Jews everywhere will be celebrating a new year – 5,775 in the Hebrew calendar. May it be a new year of peace, calm and joy for us all.
Shalom,
Oren Drori
Senior Deputy Director General