It’s time to travel to Jerusalem

“Jerusalem has become probably the safest city to be in Israel,” said Steve Rubin, director of Tourism in the Jerusalem Development Authority, and “this is actually the best time to come to Jerusalem.”

Exuding faith in the future of Jerusalem and the Jewish state, he called this moment in history, “a time of optimism as we move into the summer and what we believe is really going to be a time for new beginnings.” 

Promoting the city’s “great summer campaign” to attract visitors, he called a vacation in Jerusalem “very economical and cost-effective for people,” especially at a time when prices in cities such as Tel Aviv and Eilat were skyrocketing.

“We’re actually handing out money for people to come into the city of Jerusalem,” Rubin said, explaining the city’s tourism incentive plan.

“It’s very simple. You come for two nights in the middle of the week, so Sunday through Wednesday, book two nights at a range of hotels that we’ve been working with. And based on that, every person on your reservation will get 100 shekels [into] a digital wallet. So if you’re a family of five people, and you stay for two nights during the summer in the middle of the week in Jerusalem, you would get 500 shekels to be used at any dozens of different attractions and museums, cultural institutions within the city.”

Among events coming up in July:

•A celebration of famed Israeli singer/actor Yehoram Gaon at the Tower of David.

•The 60th anniversary of the Israel Museum.

•The Jerusalem Film Festival.

A huge tourist attraction in Jerusalem, Rubin said, is the new National Library of Israel, “which seems to be everyone’s first stop.

“The architecture is remarkable, one of a kind, the way it plays between darkness and light, modernity and antiquity coming together in Jerusalem. And they have some really wonderful tours. You have more than four million books, right? And you can see how they reach those books. There are these really cool robots that go through these endless rows where the books are and can bring you the book that you need.”

Expressing optimism that Israel’s capital is on the road to a full recovery, he said, “We’re hoping that already by wintertime, maybe Passover of 2026 and of course, summer a year from now, that we’ll start to feel and see the Jerusalem that we’re all used to.”

Rubin concluded with an appeal for Israelis and foreigners, Diaspora Jews and Christian pilgrims, to visit the city.

“There’s no place like Jerusalem in the world and it’s not a cliché. And no matter how many times you come back to the city, there’s always some other stone to uncover. Even for us who work in the business, and we’ve been doing it for years, there’s always something new to see in Jerusalem, always something that your eyes haven’t looked at, whether you look up or down, whether you go on the walls of the ancient city and the rooftops or you go underground.”

He added, “My message is that Jerusalem is always the place where you’re going to come back. We are waiting for everyone to come back, and we know that you’ll be here soon.”