Asia · West Asia, eastern Mediterranean

Israel

Capital · Jerusalem

Old City stones sacred to three faiths, the Dead Sea, and Tel Aviv's Bauhaus coast.

🇮🇱Jerusalem
The essentials

Israel at a glance

Capital
Jerusalem
Region
West Asia, eastern Mediterranean
Currency
New shekel (ILS)
Languages
Hebrew · Arabic
Dialling code
+972
Plan around it

Public holidays & key dates in Israel

Dates shift year to year where a holiday follows a lunar or religious calendar. Check locally before you book flights or count on offices being open.

Apr/MayIndependence Day (Yom Ha'atzmaut) date varies date varies
Sep/OctRosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur date varies date variesThe country stops on Yom Kippur
Mar/AprPassover date varies date varies
Getting in

Visas for African passports

Entry rules for Israel differ sharply depending on which African passport you hold — visa-free for some nationalities, e-visa for others, embassy application for the rest.

The AfricAsia Passport Index checks every African passport against this destination, with the current route and a plain-language note on what officers ask for.

Check your passport →
On the ground

Ask before you land

Rent, agents, hospitals, halal and African groceries, church and mosque, where people actually meet on a Sunday — the answers live with the people already there.

The Israel channel in the Hub is free, open, and moderated by members who live in the country.

Open the Israel channel →