Being here, I’m sure you love to travel and experience different cultures and, as such, maybe you want to travel to the middle east. The pyramids in Egypt, the wailing wall in Jerusalem and wandering the streets of Amman, sounds so adventurous…
But apparently, if evidence of being in Israel found on you while entering most Muslim countries, you might get banned from entering them. But don’t worry, in this article you’ll learn how to avoid such a thing.
Israel does not stamp passports anymore, neither in the international airports nor in the land border crossings. Instead, while crossing the border, you’ll receive a piece of paper that serves as a substitute for the stamp.
Even though this is the usual policy, there have been reports by tourists (though still very rarely) of cases when the authorities did stamp the passport, so you can never be completely sure.
From the reports I read, it usually happens to people who have visited a lot of Arab/Muslim countries. But still, those are very rare cases and almost all travellers (both people who’ve been to those countries and not) don’t get their passport stamped.
What’s the problem with the Israeli stamp?
Because of the political situation in the middle east, many Arab and Muslim countries don’t recognise Israel as an independent state and as such, ban people who’ve been to Israel from entering their countries.
Having an Israeli stamp on your passport is the biggest evidence of entering Israel and because you have to show your passport when you enter the country, the agents there may notice it and ban your entry.
*An important note here: Any evidence of being in Israel will ban your entrance, so it also goes for labels or stickers the Israeli authorities may put on your passport or luggage at the airport, having Shekels (the Israeli currency) on you, the piece of paper you get in Israel instead of the stamp and anything else.
Make sure to get rid of any evidence that may make the agents suspicious of you being in Israel if you decide to travel to a Muslim country that has no relations with Israel.
Which countries ban people who’ve been to Israel from entering?
To be honest, I searched the web a lot about it and while there are countries that definitely deny the entrance of people with evidence of visiting Israel, there are reports of travellers that managed to enter, even though they had a stamp.
A lot of information sites, personal blogs and even official government sites give different information. For example, some information sources claim that Pakistan and Afghanistan may ban entry of people with an Israeli stamp, while others claim that you can enter them without any problems.
The thing is, this issue is affected a lot by the political situation and can change every few months, and it also depends on the specific country, the airport and even the immigration clerk that checks your passport.
Anyway, the list below here includes the countries that definitely ban tourists with an Israeli stamp from entering them.
- Iraq (not Iraqi Kurdistan)
- Kuwait
- Lebanon
- Libya
- Sudan*
- Syria
- Yemen
*Sudan – Sudan is one of the countries that was known for not accepting travellers with an Israeli stamp, but on October 23rd 2020, there was an announcement of an Israeli – Sudan normalization agreement, so things may change ????
the next list includes countries that might give you difficulties while entering them with an Israeli stamp or have mixed information, so take that into account if you try entering them:
- Afghanistan
- Algeria
- Iran
- Pakistan
Afghanistan and Pakistan – As stated above, some sites claim that you’ll have difficulties and even will be banned from entering those countries, while others, and all tourists reports I’ve seen, say that you can.
Also, the Government of Canada1 site stated that you may be banned from entering Afghanistan with an Israeli stamp, while the UK2, Australia3 and USA4 sites didn’t mention anything about it.
Iran – While it may be surprising, a lot of sites say that you can enter Iran even if you have an Israeli stamp, as long as your visit was more than 6 months before arriving in Iran.
Note that Iran is considered one of the “biggest enemies” of Israel and this information is relatively new, so take that with a grain of salt, but, anyway, I have encountered a report by a tourist stating that he entered Iran with an Israeli stamp (though didn’t find any information on it in any official government site).
Algeria – This one is a bit tricky. While Algeria is considered one of the countries that ban tourists with an Israeli stamp from entering, a lot of sites excluded it from their lists. Also, the USA Department of state site mentioned that having an Israeli stamp may cause difficulties, it didn’t say that it’ll ban the entry to the country, while the Australian and UK departments of foreign affair sites didn’t mention anything about it at all.
I also haven’t found a lot of reports of travellers trying to enter Algeria with an Israeli stamp, so I’m really not sure.
Anyway, do be prepared for some difficulties.
So, as you can see, there’s a lot of contradicting information out there and it’s hard to know how each country operates, not to mention the constant change of the political situation that affects the visa policies.
However, I’d advise you to not take risks and avoid travelling to those countries with an Israeli stamp in your passport, just to be on the safe side.
The problem with crossing Israel’s land borders
So, now that we know that Israel doesn’t stamp passports and we can travel to the middle east as long as we make sure we don’t carry any evidence of visiting Israel, we can start planning!
A good idea is to start in Egypt, then to cross the border to Israel, then to Jordan and from there to fly to Lebanon.
Whoops! we just got banned from entering Lebanon! But why? What happened? We made sure we didn’t have any evidence of being in Israel and there’s no stamp in our passport!
The thing is, maybe we didn’t get a stamp when crossing the border from Egypt to Israel and from Israel to Jordan, but we had a stamp when we entered Egypt and one when we left Jordan, so there’s a hole in between…
The immigration clerks in Lebanon are well trained to notice that and they can immediately realise that we’ve been to Israel…
Some possible solutions
If you aim to travel the middle east without using airplanes, you may encounter some difficulties with this issue. I suggest that when you plan your trip, try to leave the Lebanon – Jordan – Israel – Egypt part to the end.
Another idea is to use neutral countries in the area, like Cyprus, UAE or Turkey between flights to/from Israel and Arab countries. In this way, only flying in and out of Israel and not crossing land borders, you won’t have any Israeli stamps in your passport and no one can know that you’ve been to Israel.
I’d also suggest not to try your luck and try to enter the countries mentioned above, especially the countries in the first list, if you have an Israeli stamp (or any other evidence that may give away your time in Israel, like only an exit/entry stamp from Jordan/Egypt). If you try, you may face penalties and, in extreme cases, even arrest and detention! So be really careful with this.
What happens when you enter Israel with stamps from Arabic countries?
Another thing I want to talk about is what happens if you land in Israel with stamps from Arabic countries.
The truth is, you can enter Israel even if you have stamps from countries like Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Kuwait!
People have already done that (that’s why it’s best to make Israel your last stop) but keep in mind that there’s a high chance of getting questioned by the Israeli authorities, both at the entrance and the exit.
The questioning itself is usually around 15-20 minutes, where you’ll be asked about the countries you’ve been to and why you visited them, and there’s a chance that they’ll also look at your social media accounts, to make sure you aren’t posting anything suspicious that might make you a threat to the country. You must understand that Israel has seen terror attacks in the past, so border control can be pretty strict regarding safety.
But while the questioning usually isn’t that long, the waiting for it might take hours, so be ready for that, both at the entry and exit.
Not everyone gets held, there are reports of people that have visited a lot of Arabic countries and weren’t held at all, and reports of people that have only been to 1-2 countries but got held for hours. I don’t know how they decide who to question and who not.
Conclusions
Travelling in the middle east by land is a bit tricky and planning ahead is essential, but it’s totally possible, and amazing as well ????
Make sure that when you enter a country that doesn’t recognise Israel, you don’t have any evidence of visiting Israel. That includes stamps, entrance/exit stamps of Jordan/Egypt without their counterpart, any labels issued in the Israeli airports and land crossings (they usually stick a label at the back of your passport, be sure to take it down!) or anything else.
That way, you’d be able to enter both Israel and Muslim countries and have a wonderful trip!
You’re more than welcome to share your own experience or stories you’ve heard, about people trying to enter countries in the middle east, and whether they had problems.
We’d love to hear your stories and be updated and informed about the policies and the things happening de facto, and keep this article updated with every change.
Have a safe trip!
I aspire to live an adventurous life and have always been attracted and curious about the unusual and the different. After discovering a sort of talent for writing I decided to start playing with words and from then on, I’m feeling the need to express myself to the world, through the written word.
