Because of tefillin and tallit in bags: Israeli tourists were not allowed to enter Jordan Israel today

A group of about forty insurance agents went on a short two-night vacation in Jordan, a vacation that was scheduled to begin today (Tuesday).

They crossed the Israeli border in Eilat, reached the Jordanian border, where the Jordanian mornings checked the bags of Israeli tourists.

During the inspection, the Jordanians found tefillin in the bags of seven Israelis and informed them that they could not enter the Jordan with the tefillin.

The Israelis tried to understand why, the Jordanians explained that this is a procedure designed to keep tourists safe.

The travelers said: "As soon as they checked the bags they started to take our tefillin out of the bags and at the same time asked for the passports. They put us in a room and there they explained to us that religious symbols are not allowed. "Here is a religious sign that we are walking around with on our heads. We have been here for an hour and a half and we are not given answers, we have returned to Israel."

There is no entrance to Jordan with tefillin and tallit, Photo: Oren Ben Hakon

One of them said: "I want to see that if it happened the other way around and they told Muslims or Christians that religious symbols could not be brought into Israel, it would become a big mess. Why in Jordan do people have problems with that? We were recently in Dubai and were very okay with us, we arrived with tefillin We were received with love and there was no problem, they were very respectful, why in Jordan do not know how to treat us with respect? Are you everyone's? We do not necessarily, we come to enjoy a short vacation, the tefillin is not a prominent sign, all you have to do is stay in the room, leave it in a closed room and that is it, "the Israelis add.

In a check with the State Department, they confirmed they were familiar with the issue.

The Foreign Ministry's website reads: "The Jordanian authorities state that for security reasons they ask religious Israelis not to highlight the religious symbols: tallit, kippah, etc. It has often happened that items such as tallit and tefillin were not allowed in the border crossing, At the border crossing, until the end of his visit to Jordan. "

Were we wrong?

Fixed!

If you found an error in the article, we'll be happy for you to share it with us