Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09STATE4358
2009-01-15 22:41:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Secretary of State
Cable title:  

TRAVEL WARNING - ISRAEL, THE WEST BANK, AND

Tags:  CASC PTER AMGT ASEC IS GZ WE 
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 STATE 004358 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: CASC PTER AMGT ASEC IS GZ WE
SUBJECT: TRAVEL WARNING - ISRAEL, THE WEST BANK, AND
GAZA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 STATE 004358

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: CASC PTER AMGT ASEC IS GZ WE
SUBJECT: TRAVEL WARNING - ISRAEL, THE WEST BANK, AND
GAZA


1. This Travel Warning updates U.S. citizens on the
risks of traveling to Israel, the West Bank, and the
Gaza Strip, and about threats to themselves and to U.S.
interests in those locations. The Department of State
urges U.S. citizens to remain mindful of security
factors when planning travel to Israel and the West
Bank. In addition, the Department of State urges U.S.
citizens to avoid all travel to the Gaza Strip. This
warning replaces the Travel Warning issued September 26,
2008 to update information on the general security
environment in Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza
Strip.

--------------
The Gaza Strip and Southern Israel
--------------


2. The State Department strongly urges that American
citizens refrain from all travel to the Gaza Strip.
This recommendation has been in effect since the deadly
roadside bombing of a U.S. Embassy convoy in Gaza in
October 2003. It applies to all Americans, including
journalists and aid workers. American citizens should
be aware that as a consequence of a longstanding
prohibition on travel by U.S. Government employees into
the Gaza Strip, the ability of consular staff to offer
timely assistance to U.S. citizens there is extremely
limited.


3. The Department of State warns U.S. citizens that the
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has been engaged in a
military operation, "Operation Cast Lead," in the Gaza
Strip. This operation began on December 27, 2008, with
aerial and naval strikes and expanded on January 3,
2009, to include ground operations. The IDF strictly
controls travel within the area of the crossing points
between Israel and the Gaza Strip, and has essentially
sealed the border. The security environment within Gaza
and along its borders, including its border with Egypt
and its seacoast, is dangerous and can change at any
time.


4. Since the December 19, 2008, expiration of a
ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, a State Department
designated foreign terrorist organization, Hamas has
launched ongoing rocket and mortar attacks from Gaza
into southern Israel. Some rockets have travelled more
than 40 km and landed as far north as Yavne and Gadera
and as far east as Beersheva. As a result of IDF

military operations in Gaza and the high-volume of
rocket and mortar attacks into Israel from Gaza, U.S.
Government personnel have been restricted from traveling
within 30 km of the Gaza Strip. For U.S. Government
employees to travel inside the 30 KM radius, approval is
required from the Embassy's Regional Security Office.


5. The Government of Israel's Home Front Command has
ordered residents of all communities within 40
kilometers of the Gaza Strip, including Beersheva,
Yavne, and Gadera, to take precautions against rocket
attacks. Schools and public facilities may be closed
and the provision of some public services scaled back in
areas considered to be within rocket range. American
citizens within rocket range should take appropriate
precautions and security measures, which may include
remaining within a certain distance of a sheltered space
and staying in that space for five minutes after a
rocket alert sounds. Specific guidance in English is
available at the Home Front Command Web site:
http://www.oref.org.il/934-en/PAKAR.aspx.

--------------
The West Bank

STATE 00004358 002 OF 004


--------------


6. The security environment in the West Bank remains
volatile. Demonstrations are unpredictable and can
occur without warning and become violent. Vehicles have
also been the target of rocks, Molotov cocktails, and
gunfire on West Bank roads. The Department of State
urges Americans to defer travel to the West Bank at this
time.


7. The IDF continues to carry out security operations
in the West Bank. Israeli security operations can occur
at any time, including raids to arrest terrorist
suspects that lead to disturbances and violence.
Americans can be caught in the middle of potentially
dangerous situations. Some Americans involved in
demonstrations and other such activities in the West
Bank have become involved in confrontations with Israeli
settlers and the IDF. The State Department recommends
that Americans, for their own safety, avoid
demonstrations.


8. All those who pass through the West Bank should
exercise particular care when approaching and transiting
Israeli military checkpoints. Travelers should be aware
that they might encounter delays and difficulties, and
might even be denied passage through a checkpoint.
American citizens should be aware that the ability of
consular staff to offer timely assistance to U.S.
citizens in the West Bank is limited.

-------------- --------------
Travel Restrictions for U.S. Government Personnel
-------------- --------------


9. All American U.S. Government personnel and their
dependents are prohibited from traveling to any cities,
towns, or settlements in the West Bank, except when they
are on mission-essential business or are traveling for
other mission-approved purposes. For limited, personal
travel, U.S. government personnel and family members are
permitted to travel through the West Bank only by using
routes 1 and 90 to reach the Allenby/King Hussein Bridge
or the Dead Sea coast near Ein Gedi and Masada. They
are also permitted to travel north on Route 90 from the
Allenby/King Hussein Bridge to the Sea of Galilee. Use
of these routes is only approved for transit purposes,
with stops permitted at only Qumran National Park off
Route 90 by the Dead Sea. Each transit requires prior
notification to the Consulate General's security
office. U.S. Government personnel and family members
are permitted both official and personal travel on Route
443 between Modi'in and Jerusalem without prior
notification, during daylight hours only.

--------------
General Safety and Security
--------------


10. Israeli authorities remain concerned about the
continuing threat of terrorist attacks. Two fatal
bulldozer attacks on civilians in July 2008 and a March
2008 shooting, all in Jerusalem, and a February 2008
bombing in Dimona are reminders of the ongoing
precariousness of the security environment.


11. Given the military conflict in and around Gaza,
the IDF has placed its forces along the northern border
with Lebanon on a heightened state of alert. In early
January 2009, short-range rockets were fired from
Lebanon into northern Israel, reportedly a demonstration
of support by militants for Hamas' resistance to Israel
in the Gaza Strip. Due to this northern rocket fire,
U.S. Government employees have been advised to avoid
traveling north of Akko/Acre and along the entire border
with Lebanon during the IDF operation in Gaza. If
Americans are present in this area, they should monitor
media reports and take appropriate security measures in

STATE 00004358 003 OF 004


accordance with the Home Front Command's guidance
(http://www.oref.org.il/934-en/PAKAR.aspx).


12. American citizens are cautioned that a greater
danger may exist around restaurants, businesses, and
other places associated with U.S. interests and/or
located near U.S. official buildings, such as the U.S.
Embassy in Tel Aviv and the U.S. Consulate General in
Jerusalem. American citizens are also urged to exercise
a high degree of caution and to use common sense when
patronizing restaurants, nightclubs, cafes, malls,
places of worship, and theaters, especially during peak
hours. Large crowds and public gatherings have been
targeted by terrorists in the past and should be avoided
to the extent practicable. American citizens should
take into consideration that public buses, trains, and
their respective terminals are "off-limits" to U.S.
Government personnel. Authorized and spontaneous
demonstrations related to the IDF action in Gaza have
taken place in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, around Afula
and elsewhere in Israel. U.S. Government personnel have
been directed to avoid all protests. Personnel have
also been urged to maintain a high level of vigilance
and situational awareness at all times.


13. The State Department urges American citizens to
remain vigilant while traveling throughout Jerusalem,
especially within the commercial and downtown areas of
West Jerusalem and the city center. Spontaneous or
planned protests within the Old City are possible,
especially after Friday prayers. Some of these protests
have led to violent clashes. The Old City of Jerusalem
is off-limits to U.S. Government personnel and their
family members after dark during the entire week and
between the hours of 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Fridays.

--------------
Entry/Exit Difficulties
--------------


14. The Government of Israel considers American
citizens who also hold Israeli citizenship or have a
claim to such dual nationality to be Israeli citizens
for immigration and other legal purposes. For example,
an American citizen child of an Israeli parent will be
considered an Israeli citizen by Israeli immigration
officials and Israeli law will apply to the child's
travel to, and departure from, Israel.


15. American citizens whom Israeli authorities suspect
of being of Arab or Muslim origin are likely to face
additional, often time-consuming, and probing
questioning by immigration and border authorities, or
may even be denied entry into Israel. If they are
determined by Israeli authorities to have a claim to
residency status in the West Bank or Gaza, or to have a
claim to a Palestinian identification number, such
American citizens may be required by the Government of
Israel to use a Palestinian Authority travel document to
transit Israel to enter the West Bank or Gaza. Such a
determination could be made for American citizens if
they or their immediate family members or grandparents
were born in the West Bank or Gaza, currently reside
there, or lived there for any appreciable amount of
time.


16. American citizens who hold a Palestinian Authority
ID, as well as persons judged by the Israeli authorities
to have claim to a Palestinian Authority ID, will be
considered subject to Israeli law and to regulations
that Israel applies to residents of the West Bank and
Gaza, regardless of the fact that they hold U.S.
citizenship. A Palestinian ID number might be active or
inactive. If active, the Government of Israel may stamp
the Palestinian Identification Number in the U.S.
passport, and the American citizen may be required to
obtain Palestinian Authority travel documents prior to
departing Israel. In addition, American citizens having

STATE 00004358 004 OF 004


or eligible for a Palestinian Authority ID who entered
Israel via Ben Gurion Airport might be required to
depart via the Allenby Bridge to Jordan. Upon arrival,
such persons may wish to consider asking Israeli
immigration authorities from where they will be required
to depart. Additionally, American citizens who have (or
who are eligible to receive) a Palestinian Authority
Identification Number, are likely to be refused entry to
Israel via Ben Gurion Airport and told that they must
enter Israel from Jordan via the Allenby (also known as
King Hussein) Bridge.


17. The United States Government seeks equal treatment
for all American citizens regardless of national origin
or ethnicity. American citizens who encounter
difficulties are encouraged to contact the U.S. Embassy
in Tel Aviv or the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem
at the telephone numbers below.


18. Americans in Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza
Strip are strongly encouraged to register with the
Consular Sections of the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv or the
U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem through the State
Department's travel registration website,
https://travelregistration.state.gov. U.S. citizens who
require emergency services may telephone the Consulate
General in Jerusalem at (972) (2) 628-7137, after hours
(for emergencies): (972) (2) 622-7250, or the Embassy in
Tel Aviv at (972) (3) 519-7575, after hours (for
emergencies): (972) (3) 519-7551.


19. Current information on travel and security in
Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip may be
obtained from the Department of State by calling 1-888-
407-4747 within the United States and Canada, or, from
overseas, 1-202-501-4444. For additional and more in-
depth information about specific aspects of travel to
these areas, U.S. citizens should consult: the Country
Specific Information for Israel, the West Bank and Gaza;
and the Worldwide Caution. These along with other
Travel Warnings, Travel Alerts and Country Specific
Information sheets are available on the Department's
Internet website at http://travel.state.gov. Up-to-date
information on security conditions can also be accessed
at http://usembassy-israel.org.il or
http://jerusalem.usconsulate.gov. Additionally,
Americans are encouraged to sign up to receive security-
related information from the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv
via email at the following link:
http://telaviv.usembassy.gov/consular/acs/ind ex.aspx.


20. Minimize considered.
RICE