Countries dangerous for the Israelis

Peter Lyukimson, Israel, exclusively to VK

Turkey and Azerbaijan are included in the list of 33 countries dangerous to visit for the citizens of Israel.

In fact, there is nothing extraordinary about this. About every six months, usually on the eve of the spring and autumn Jewish holidays, Israel's headquarters for the fight against terror publishes a list of countries considered dangerous for Israelis, regardless of their ethnicity. The list is opened by countries clearly hostile to Israel - Iran, Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia, as well as Libya, Indonesia, Burkina Faso, Algeria, Cote d'Ivoire, Malaysia, Mali and Pakistan ... Having found themselves in one of these states, the Israelis may be arrested by the local authorities as well as become a victim of the terrorist attack, so if a citizen of Israel (for example, taking advantage of his second - Russian or any other nationality) happens to be in their territory, he is prescribed to leave it immediately.

The second group is made up of states, a visit to which is considered to be "undesirable" or "not recommended." In this group, along with the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, Kuwait, Egypt and Qatar, there are Turkey, Azerbaijan and Chechnya and the surrounding regions of Russia.

Analyzing the situation in Turkey, the headquarters for the fight against terror came to the conclusion that, despite all the attempts by Israel to resolve the conflict over the "Mavi Marmara," in this country there are still strong anti-Israel sentiments, and the Israelis can become victims of them – if not a terrorist attack then just hooliganism.

With regard to Chechnya, in this region the Israelis have repeatedly been kidnapped for ransom, and so round trip there "is not recommended" - which, of course, does not prevent from travelling regularly to this republic for both Israeli businessmen and Israeli doctors performing together with the Chechen authorities special projects for the rise of local medicine.

The incIusion of Azerbaijan in the list of "dangerous countries" has caused, in turn, a wave of harsh criticism by the Israelis, natives of this country. They argue that Azerbaijan is entered in the list without any reason from year to year, while neighboring Armenia and Georgia remain outside it, and this is one of the brakes of this tourism destination.

The headquarters for the fight against terror agrees that the current regime in Azerbaijan is friendly to Israel, and that in this country there is practically no anti-Israel sentiment. At the same time, it reminds that in the territory of Azerbaijan there are emissaries of Iran and various Islamic organizations, and if there is still no act of terrorism against the citizens of Israel and Israeli facilities, it is only thanks to the brilliant work of the Azerbaijani special services.

However, the recommendation of the headquarters does not mean that a trip to Azerbaijan is categorically prohibited for the Israelis, like, say, a trip to Iran or Algeria. Because of the rapidly developing ties, more and more Israeli businessmen, as well as culture and science figures, weekly travel to Azerbaijan. Nevertheless, they are asked to follow certain precautions not to emphasize in the streets, that they are Israelis, not to open the door of their hotel room to strangers, not to make friends in the street, etc.

As for the tourist exchange, according to the Israeli travel agents, the lack of Israeli tourists in Azerbaijan is not related to the list. For example, the flow of tourists to Turkey, which is in the same list, continues to grow, and for the first two months of this summer the country was visited by about 180,000 Israelis.


"The potential of Azerbaijan in terms of tourism is huge”, Israeli tour guide Leon Ghin said in an interview to VK. “This country can attract Israelis by its historical attractions, the coast of the Caspian Sea and its beautiful natural resorts in the Huck-Gel, Qusary, etc., and the unique healing properties of white oil. However, all our attempts to start organizing tours from Israel to Azerbaijan ran across the problem of prices in the Azerbaijani hotels. Unfortunately, they are much higher than the price of the favorite resorts of Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Malta, and they discourage potential tourists. I understand that these prices directly reflect the economic growth and living standards in Azerbaijan, which is higher than in neighboring countries, but we still need to think how to solve this problem. As soon as Azerbaijan is able to offer cheaper travel services, I am sure, no list will be able to stop the flow of tourists there. I am confident that the traditional hospitality and friendliness of the Azerbaijanis will very quickly make the country one of the most popular ones among Israeli tourists. "