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Israelis in Istanbul: "It's not pleasant to walk the streets" | Israel today

2022-06-16T20:33:51.941Z


Zohar and his partner delayed their return due to a travel warning to Turkey: "The news from Israel overwhelmed us" • Keren and Yossi remained that the cancellation "will cost us almost as much as the entire vacation" •


Last night, the National Security Headquarters again called for "leaving Istanbul, in light of the intention of terrorist elements to harm Israelis," but this weekend more tourists from Israel will land in the Turkish city as well.

However, compared to the last few days, yesterday it was already much rarer to hear Hebrew speakers on the streets or to notice Israelis in the markets.

Although the National Security Council has recommended some precautionary measures to those still staying in the port city - such as keeping Israeli symbols modest, keeping a low profile and avoiding staying in places identified as "Israeli concentrations" - Istanbul is slowly becoming a city that Israelis will skip, at least Until the situation calms down.

The expression of tension is in price, literally.

Zohar and his partner, an Israeli couple from the center of the country who arrived in Istanbul earlier this week at the hotel where I am staying, decided yesterday to advance the flight back, and beyond not being reimbursed from the hotel, they also had to pay $ 200 per person to change the flight time to Israel.

"The pressure was too much, both on the part of the family and on the part of the friends who were really worried, and yesterday it was already the peak," says Zohar.

"Although we did not feel any tension in the air, and the streets here are bustling with people, but the news from Israel overwhelmed us, and so did the children who asked us to return. They are also the ones who found our flight tickets. To speak Hebrew".

Istiklal Boulevard, Photo: Avi Cohen

Not sorry, but ...

On Istiklal Street you can still meet Israelis, but much less than we saw earlier this week.

The couple Keren and Yossi from Netanya, who are sitting in a restaurant on the street, are less worried about the warning, but say that if they had known in advance about the travel warning, they would have booked the flights to another destination.

"When we checked with the travel agency early last week whether it was possible to cancel or change location," says Keren, "we realized it would cost us almost the entire price of the vacation, so we decided to give up and stick to our plans. Until we raised the money for this trip, Travel to another place.

"We arrived here on Tuesday and slowly we see less and less Israelis. In the meantime we are not sorry we booked a vacation to Istanbul, because everything here is just amazing and we do not feel fear. But there is no doubt that if we knew about the travel warning about a month ago, we would choose another destination." .

"Not in their interest"

And if Hebrew is still heard on Istiklal Street, in the markets it is hardly heard at all and even Israelis hardly come to it.

Yesterday, when I was touring the market in the afternoon, Ron, one of the sellers, told me that I was the first Israeli he saw in his store today.

When I replied that some of the Israeli tourists said they would put keffiyehs on his head, he replied: "As I recognized you immediately without saying a word, this is how I can identify every Israeli."

On the travel warning, Harun said he had heard "about what happened with Iran, that they want to harm Israelis in Turkey," but added: "I do not believe it could be, because the Turkish security forces will not let this happen. It is not in their interest, And they will do anything to prevent such a thing. "

Either way, the Israelis seem to have internalized the situation.

The tour companies feel good about cancellations, most of them to Istanbul, and stopping reservations almost completely.

In contrast to previous times where the cancellation was sweeping to all of Turkey, it is said there that "at least this time there are no cancellations to Antalya and other resort towns in Turkey".

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Source: israelhayom

All news articles on 2022-06-16

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