“As the security situation stabilizes, the airlines return. The main barrier right now to the full return of tourists to Israel is the lack of flights.”
Some 109,000 tourists entered Israel in July, compared with 85,000 in July 2025, a 28% increase, Anat Shihor-Aronson, spokesperson and head of the Public Relations Department at Israel’s Tourism Ministry, told JNS on Monday.
From the beginning of the year through July, 539,000 tourists entered the Jewish state, she said.
“As the security situation stabilizes, the airlines return. The main barrier right now to the full return of tourists to Israel is the lack of flights,” Shihor-Aronson said, adding that “there is a wide target audience that still loves Israel.”
The spokeswoman said she was optimistic about tourists returning in the near future, pointing to the country’s unique offerings, from Jerusalem’s biblical and historical sites to Tel Aviv’s culinary scene and liberal atmosphere.
“It’s a very unique country in the Middle East, and we are optimistic that they will return and that there will be more tourists than during Israel’s record year,” Shihor-Aronson said. “It will take time and patience, but it will happen.”