The House Removals Company

Moving to Israel?

It may be one of the youngest states in the world, but Israel has a long and turbulent history. The Land of Israel has been sacred to the Jewish people since Biblical times: according to the Torah, it was promised to the three Patriarchs by God as their homeland in the early 2nd millennium BCE. Around the 11th century BC, the first of a series of Israelite kingdoms and states established rule over the region; these ruled intermittently for the following one thousand years. Palestine then fell successively under Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, Greek, Roman, and Byzantine rule, each regime expelling more of the Jewish population. Captured in 636 CE during the initial Muslim conquests, the region transferred between the Umayyads, Abbasids, and Crusaders over the next six centuries, before falling in the hands of the Mamluk Sultanate in 1260. In 1516, it became a part of the Ottoman Empire, which ruled the region until the 20th century when the British Government was given the Mandate of Palestine.

Following a series of pogroms in Russia and Eastern Europe, the Zionist movement was created in 1897 and Zionists started looking for a new homeland. Waves of Jews started to settle in Palestine; number were hugely augmented by the effects of Adolf Hitler’s anti-Jewish policies in Europe. By 1935 the Arab population was exceedingly unhappy and violence started to erupt between the two communities. In 1947, the British government turned the problem over to the UN, which recommended partitioning the land between an Arab and a Jewish state. The Jews accepted, but the Arabs rejected the plan. When the British left in May 1948, a two-month Arab-Israeli War broke out. By the time a final armistice was struck, Israel was an independent country and Palestinian Arabs found themselves ruled either by Israel, Jordan or Egypt, or stateless in distant refugee camps. Since that time, the conflict has ebbed and flowed, polarising opinion and leaving many thousands dead or imprisoned. Realistically, there is no end in sight.

People who choose to visit Israel should be very careful about security and check local news regularly. Tel Aviv is the capital, a bustling modern city that bears no relation to the ancient wonders around it. Fantastic cuisine, vibrant nightlife and glamorous beaches make it a wonderful place to relax. Try kosher food from all over the world, or more spicy local Sephardic cooking. Eighty km up the road, three thousand year-old Jerusalem is sacred to Judaism, Islam and Christianity – hence it’s always been a flashpoint for violence. The gold-plated Dome of the Rock, the enduring symbol of the city – the place where that Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son and from which the Prophet Mohammed launched himself heavenward to take his place alongside Allah. The Western Wall, built to support the Temple two thousand years ago, is the most holy pilgrimage site for Jews. Via Dolorosa is the road that Christ took to Calgary. Even after you’ve seen these remarkable places, you can lose days exploring the winding streets and humming bazaars.

Akko is a perfectly preserved city of stone, sited on a narrow spit of land that pokes into the sea, which seduces visitors with its narrow alleys, slender minarets, secret passageways, subterranean vaults and impressive ramparts. The birthplace of Jesus, Nazareth today is the largest Arab city in Israel, offering far more than its Christian pilgrim history. Visit the Old City, with its crumbling mansions, authentic souq and excellent restaurants specialising in local dishes. This is an excellent base for a tour of Galilee, whose verdant farmland and green valleys seem little changed from Biblical times. The Sea of Galilee is incredibly beautiful, a wonderful place to go hiking and swimming and the heart of kibbutz country. Finally, don’t miss the Dead Sea, which at 400 m below sea level the lowest point in the world and is so saline that you can’t help floating!