Driving in Israel

“You don’t want to drive in Israel. Israeli drivers are crazy!”

–Itzca (Garry’s dad)

A truck hauls a large load of garlic bulbs along an Israeli highway.

Part of our Israeli experience included renting a car for the length of our stay, adding considerably to our adventure. Garry was the driver; Jen was the navigator.

Rachaeli came with us to rent the car. The rental car company was located in downtown Tiberias. So, Garry’s first driving experience was a left turn onto a congested downtown street. Fortunately, Rachaeli, in the passenger seat, rolled down the window to negotiate an opening for him.

Things that made driving in Israel interesting:

• Drivers and passersby have the audacity to yell at you when you go the wrong way down a one-way street. Garry managed to pull this one off on our first solo trip in Tiberias.


• Signs are difficult to read. We studied the map thoroughly before driving into Jerusalem and had determined our route to our hotel. But upon entering the city there were no street signs, and we were immediately lost. Consulting a local for help didn’t help either as most people we encountered couldn’t locate themselves on the map, going just by landmarks. When we did find signs, they were usually positioned more for pedestrians to read than drivers, and the font was small because they were translated into three languages.

Sign indicating direction to Jerusalem in (from top to bottom) Hebrew, Arabic and English.

• Inconsistent translations. When we did find street signs, they weren’t always consistent. A sign reading Yafo St. might be labeled Jaffa on our map; King Solomon was Shlomo HaMelech; Caesarea was Qasariya. So, we often had conversations such as “Does Jaffa mean Yafo?” “Yeah.” “Oh. We just missed our turn.” And with the traffic in Jerusalem, missing a turn just added to our woes.


• Two-lane highways can turn into to freeways. When truckers want you to pass, they just use the shoulder to drive at normal speeds. If there isn’t enough room, they just cut into the oncoming lane. You don’t want to space out because cars don’t really make sure there isn’t oncoming traffic before borrowing into their lane.

Jen’s favorite driving story:

We were driving to Banias. To get there, we would drive to the northernmost main city in Israel, Qiryat Shemona, and then turn right up toward the Golan Heights. We were looking for Q. Shemona when we saw a sign that indicated, straight to Metullah, left to The Good Fence. “What’s the Good Fence?” “Is this the way to the Lebanese border?” Jen consulted the guidebooks and confirmed our suspicions. According to the map, we were a couple km away. And the guidebook said The Good Fence is no longer “good.” “OK. Stop! We’re there. This is the border. Abort!” Jen didn’t want to proceed with the kids (or herself) in the car. But, Garry was behind the wheel. We drove on until we came to a sign that said “Stop. Border ahead.” We didn’t see any guards so we don’t think we were quite there. But, close enough—especially for Jen’s comfort.

Garry’s favorite driving story:

The light had just turned green. The car ahead of us let another car merge in front of him. Instead of going through the light, the second car just sat across our lane because the driver wanted to get over to the left lane which was red at the time. So, anyway, after someone had been kind enough to let him in, he just sat there blocking everyone’s green light. Only one car made it through the light despite the fact that everyone was honking at him. He just threw up his hands as if to say, “What do you want me to do?”

In conclusion

We recommend it only to those with an adventurous experience. 90% of the vehicles at tourist locations are tour buses. If you aren’t planning on toting around children or visiting children as we were, this is a good way to go.