My Fifth Trip to Israel, Home of My Heart in The Middle East
Where we’re at: I’m recapping my travels in 2020, including this trip to Israel in February 2020.
It had all started to become comfortingly familiar the exact gate the daily Newark to Tel Aviv flight departed from, the recitation of pre-boarding announcement in English and Hebrew, the familiar mix of blue-haired Christian pilgrims, families of Hasidic Jews, and bored-looking hipster Tel Avivians crowding the boarding area.
But this time, something was different. An ominous sounding announcement warned that we would not be allowed in Israel if our passports showed evidence of travel to China in the last two weeks, and we each had to go up for a one-by-one inspection, adding to the chaos of the additional security that all flights landing in Israel must undergo before their departure. Israel was one of the first countries in the world to enact any kind of border restrictions, and at the time it felt dramatic and