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|capital = [[Jerusalem]], claimed by Israel, but this is [[wikipedia:Fourth_Geneva_Convention|a flagrant violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention]]|language = [[Hebrew]] (official), [[Arabic]] (official), [[Western Europe phrasebook#English|English]] and sometimes [[Eastern Europe phrasebook#Russian|Russian]] most commonly used foreign languages

:''"Explore Human Rights Insights": Interested in understanding the places you travel to beyond the surface? We encourage you to visit [https://www.btselem.org/ B'Tselem's website] for important insights into the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territories. It's a step towards more informed and conscious travel.'' Hitchhiking is very common in '''Israel'''. [[Hitchhiking]] is often done by pointing to the ground with the pointing finger far from the body, instead of raising a thumb. But possibly raising If you raise a thumb will be understood as well, people might not understand.

Hitchhiking in Israel is usually done without varies. In some areas it's very common, you'll often see locals hitchhiking and cars stop quickly wherever you try. In others, it can take ages, especially if you don't have a [[signs|sign]]. If you're getting out of a large city, since stopping make sure you have a sign - preferably in almost all Hebrew.  Stopping at most junctions is possible. An exception for this is consists of the few highways that on all of in which stopping is only possible on at on-ramps and petrol station hitchhiking|petrol stations. The highways are:

Due the fact that Israel is also in a problematic security situations, I think you just need to be bit more carefull that your usual, espicially especially if you hitch-hike west bank, and if your intuation alert you from the driver, don't jump in.

It's common to get rides from Arab Israelis (or Palestinian Israelis) and from religious Jews. So it's wise to avoid talking politics unless you really know your ways and who you're talking to. Remembers a ride where the driver was listening to Arabic music, not speaking English, but indicating he "hates all Arabs", he just loves Arabic music. Tricky.

[[User:Vulla|Vulla]]: "All the people will ask you why did you choose to travel in Israel. Most of the people want to talk about the politic situation, don't be afraid to ask questions...people want to show their point of view and just demonstrating that Israel is really a great country and not just a country war which it seems from outside, they will not have problems to say what they real think. That's my experience travelling HH hitchhiking in Israel, is a real way to understand this complex but great land".

A lot of Arabs Palestinians don't speak English, and if you are in which case Israel "proper" it can actually be okay to approach them Palestinians in Hebrew (especially if you're not a native speaker). Some Orthodox Jews prefer to speak only YiddishIt is another story inside the Isreali occupied [[West Bank]]. And you can easily find yourself there when hitchhiking, so if you're not aware. And in the West Bank it may can be helpful dangerous to learn a few basic phrases approach Palestinians in this language (hint: it's mutually intelligible with German)Hebrew.

 '''Note''': Israel shares borders with these countries; however, due to hostile relations between the states, it is '''illegal''' and probably impossible to legally cross over to Syria or Lebanon; Getting to [[Gaza]] should requires special circumstances (being a journalist or an aid worker etc.). Getting to Egypt and Jordan can be easily done through the border crossings with those countries.

[[Taba]] is the only border crossing for passengers from Israel to [[Egypt]]. It is situated 5km south of [[Eilat]], and is accessible by public transport from both directions. There are almost no cars passing the border, everyone does it by foot. Notice that if you plan to continue after [[Sinai]], to [[Cairo]] for instance, you most likely need an Egyptian visa which is obtainable in the Egyptian embassy in [[Tel Aviv]] or the Egyptian consulate in [[Eilat]]. Bring with you 4 passport photos, 100 NIS and a photocopy of your passport. It takes around 4 hours for Western citizens. Since 2017, you can also obtain a visa [https://www.visa2egypt.gov.eg/eVisa/Home online].

1# In northern Israel, next to [[Beit She'an]], you can cross in the "Jordan River"/"Sheikh Hussein" border crossing, from which it is quite straight forward if you continue onwards to Amman. My partner and I (French and Chilean) hitchhiked across this border in April 2019.It is not allowed to walk across the border ! So you have 2 options :- you can take the shuttle bus across the noman's land (its costs 5 shekels/person)- you can hitchhike a car just before the border but be aware that there are not so many cars going through. We saw only 2 cars driving from Israel to Jordan in 3 hours on a monday afternoon! Cars must stop at the border entrance so it was easy to ask directly the driver to give us a ride. It looked like there was a bit more traffic on the other way from Jordan to Israel.Normally we should have pay 107 shekels (102+5) to leave the country but it appeared to be a bit cheaper as a group : we paid 311 for 3 persons (104 shekels/person).The Israeli custom officers did not ask any questions and did not open our backpacks.On the Jordan side, we did not pay nothing for the visa as we already paid online our Jordanian Pass and showed it printed. #lemondesurlepouce 2# In central Israel, in the West Bank, "Allenby"/"King Hussein" border crossing, separating [[Jordan]] from the IsraselIsrael/West Bank. The border crossing is jointly operated by Israel (for international or Israeli passengers) and the Palestinian Authority (for Palestinian passengers). This is also the most direct border crossing from [[Amman]] to [[Jerusalem]]. Crossing into Israel/West Bank require no special visa. Crossing into Jordan requires obtaining a Jordanian visa in advance, as such are not issued in the border crossing. 3# In the south, 3km north of [[Eilat]], you can cross at the Arava crossing (''Yitzchak Rabin terminal'') which separates [[Eilat]] from [[Aqaba]]. This is only landborder Israel/Jordan that you can cross by walking !At this landborder, the Jordanian visa is free of charge ! You will just have to pay the exit fees of Israel (107 shekels) ..at least for French and Chilean citizens So if you are in a budget, you should consider crossing in Eilat as it is the cheapest option ! #lemondesurlepouce == Nomadwiki & Trashwiki == {{nomadwiki}}