How was Israel?

[the_bonk]

So , how was Israel?
Did you enjoy your stay here?
Do you think differntly about Israel now? ( security and stuff like that )
Would you say its one of the top 5 or top 10 trips you hade?
If we ( Israel ) well meet you at the qulifiers for Euro 2008 , will you come??
Please answer all 143 foot.ie fans that came to Israel.... :D

[thejollyrodger]

As a Irish fan at home I have got a different impression of Israel from the one I knew. I thought Israel was a sh1t teame and the country was a sh1te hole.

Now I think Israel is a nice country and there is lots to see and do. Nice weather, friendly welcome, friendly people. Good spot to go out for a few beers etc.

Your national side isnt a great side and my opinion hasnt changed anything.

Best of luck for the European qualifiers

[the_bonk]

As a Irish fan at home I have got a different impression of Israel from the one I knew. I thought Israel was a sh1t teame and the country was a sh1te hole.

Now I think Israel is a nice country and there is lots to see and do. Nice weather, friendly welcome, friendly people. Good spot to go out for a few beers etc.

Your national side isnt a great side and my opinion hasnt changed anything.

Best of luck for the European qualifiers

Really happy you have changed your mind :D

[joeraki]

I loved Israel, one of the best trips I've been on. Really ****ed off that I'm home :mad:

Have loads to say on the trip but I'm shattered tired and off to bed

[tricky_colour]

I am sure most who travelled would say the first 90 minutes were great :D

[Cowboy]

I would rate Israel as my third best trip behind Iceland and copenhagen. The only downsides were the exteremly long security procedures on the way back but the staff were polite so I guess its just a minor annoyance. Weather was brilliant but having bars open all night was very bad for my liver.

BTW was anyone present when Brian kerr was in Mikes place? I heard he had a few words with an Irish supporter.

Thanks to all the guys who posted on here, I have a different opinion of israelis now than I did before.

[Cowboy]

not many posts here, guess everyone is shattered from lack of sleep :)

[Beavis]

BTW was anyone present when Brian kerr was in Mikes place? I heard he had a few words with an Irish supporter.


Yep I was right there when it happened. It was late and it had been a long day so my interpretation may be slightly off. A man went up to Brian and said 'what the hell happend Brian, that was very dissapointing' or something along those lines. BK flipped and told him to go fu ck himself. Then walked off. I can only imagine he was dissapointed at that stage himself and didn't need to be interrogated.

A great trip, people were very friendly, birds were hot and wanting us ;) :D

[Cowboy]

Thanks for that, I guess Kerr was not in the mood and by my thinking in a bar after the game is not the time or place to be giving anyone grief.

Did anyone see the waitress in Olimpico sports bar with tha Carlo Valderama hairstyle? She ws a TEN :)

Thanks to Gidi and the guys in Olimpico, the free bacardi was great.



Yep I was right there when it happened. It was late and it had been a long day so my interpretation may be slightly off. A man went up to Brian and said 'what the hell happend Brian, that was very dissapointing' or something along those lines. BK flipped and told him to go fu ck himself. Then walked off. I can only imagine he was dissapointed at that stage himself and didn't need to be interrogated.

A great trip, people were very friendly, birds were hot and wanting us ;) :D

[Saint Tom]

The amount of free beer we got was crazy. I went with €600 in Sheckles and game back with €250 :)

Israel is a fantastic place, unlike any where I've been before. Sun, Sea ,Sand and the hospiatality of the people is to die for. never forget seeing an Israeli riot van with a tricolour! I would personally like to thank all the Israelis for an incredible welcome.

As regards what we see on the television, (guys who didnt travel) don't be fooled. One of the bars beside the hotels, Mike's Place was bombed three years ago. It was HQ for us all weekend. Can you imagine someone walking into a bar full of people strapped with explosives? People suffer injustices in this world, many of us can understand the Palestinian struggle, but remember only sixty years ago 6 million jews were massacred. My eyes have been very much opened. I am not condoning IDF policies in the west bank and Gaza , but you have to see both sides of the coin.

Israeli's are extremely cosmopolitan. In fact Tel Aviv reminds me very much of Barcelona. Gols star is possibly the finest lager i have tasted!

FAO Kobby, great job on the party. i'm sorry not many of us came. But those who did had an absolute Ball! Did you see my freind eddie on the stage for the drinking competition. It was hilarious!

I will certainly go back to Israel and Tel Aviv. Couldn't imagine a better summer holiday! Likhaim (i think thats' how you spell cheers in Hebrew!)

[the_bonk]

The amount of free beer we got was crazy. I went with €600 in Sheckles and game back with €250 :)

Israel is a fantastic place, unlike any where I've been before. Sun, Sea ,Sand and the hospiatality of the people is to die for. never forget seeing an Israeli riot van with a tricolour! I would personally like to thank all the Israelis for an incredible welcome.

As regards what we see on the television, (guys who didnt travel) don't be fooled. One of the bars beside the hotels, Mike's Place was bombed three years ago. It was HQ for us all weekend. Can you imagine someone walking into a bar full of people strapped with explosives? People suffer injustices in this world, many of us can understand the Palestinian struggle, but remember only sixty years ago 6 million jews were massacred. My eyes have been very much opened. I am not condoning IDF policies in the west bank and Gaza , but you have to see both sides of the coin.

Israeli's are extremely cosmopolitan. In fact Tel Aviv reminds me very much of Barcelona. Gols star is possibly the finest lager i have tasted!

FAO Kobby, great job on the party. i'm sorry not many of us came. But those who did had an absolute Ball! Did you see my freind eddie on the stage for the drinking competition. It was hilarious!

I will certainly go back to Israel and Tel Aviv. Couldn't imagine a better summer holiday! Likhaim (i think thats' how you spell cheers in Hebrew!)

Wow , what a nice post.
I used your post to advertise Israel in bettingadvice forum :D
http://forum.bettingadvice.com//viewtopic.php?t=29983

[Saint Tom]

no problem buddy.

will you come here in June?

[the_bonk]

no problem buddy.

will you come here in June?

Nope , As I said im only 17 and im still in school :mad:
Wish I could though.
Sucks that our fans are only travelling with their team and not with the national team . can't see more then 500-1000 "real Israeli's" come to Dublin. If you see more , there probably from the Jewish community in your country .

[Colie]

Tel Aviv was buzzin, the craic was 90 & the ladies were well up for it. Best trip of them all so far. Bit freaked out by all the guns tho. Got my photo in the Star on Sunday with 2 Israeli amy lads with their M16's outside the ground!

[the_bonk]

Do you think that if all of the Irish fans knew it will be a 'great trip' ( you said it yourself ) more fans would have come?

[Erez-Israel]

I just want to say thank you , for all the Irish people that was here last week and do this "Purim" for the Israelies the best holiday ever.

Come on you boys in Green :p

[IsMiseSean]

Firstly, I feel sorry for all the people who didn't go because of security fears, it was fantastic I felt 100% safe, the people were really friendly, I had loads of drinks bought for me by fans :) . The ladies over there are beautiful but I didn't have to much luck :( .
Its by far the best trip I was on (haven't been to many though).
The best bars I went to were Joey's bar, Dream bar (did anyone see the girl dancing on the bar half naked ;) ) and Mike's Place.
I didn't make it to the beach party, I went out about 8pm but It finish at 6 apparently :mad:
Jerusalem was great too all the palestinians there really wanted us to beat Israel

I'll definitely go back all I need is an excuse and some money

Did anyone hear the guy on the plane home doing impression's of Micheal 0'Muritheagh (poor spelling) what was he on? :D

[joeraki]

Did anyone hear the guy on the plane home doing impression's of Micheal 0'Muritheagh (poor spelling) what was he on? :D

What a bell end, Talk about a bloke who loved the sound of his own voice... The whole trip I seen him !! Heard a sham rovers fan told him "where to go" one night in mikes bar and he nearly started crying

[IsMiseSean]

What a bell end, Talk about a bloke who loved the sound of his own voice... The whole trip I seen him !! Heard a sham rovers fan told him "where to go" one night in mikes bar and he nearly started crying

It was better than sitting in silence

[joeraki]

It was better than sitting in silence

Who was sitting in silence ? Most people can't stand someone that loves there own voice. Heard he was mates with one of the biggest ****** of the all davy keogh, so its a pity an air marshell didn't shoot all of them ;)

[soylent green]

Some initial thoughts on the weekend's adventure.

Great trip. Good Friday in Jerusalem was amazing. Great sing song in the Buzz Stop bar (beside Mike's Place) on Thursday night.

Their stadium makes Lansdowne Road look great. Dissappointed with the vocal support the team got at the game. I know we were miles away from the pitch but it never seemed to get going.

Great to see fans swapping jersey, scarves, flags etc at the end of the game. Got one of the free t-shirts from one fan in return for my Rovers scarf. I'm told the t-shirts were given out free by a communications company. Friendly banter outside the ground and in the pubs before and after the game. The Israelis were delighted with the point.

Israeli's were very friendly towards us. Lots of locals stopped to chat and welcome us to their country. Security was polite and professional at airport in Dublin (where everybody was questioned for about 5 mins) and in the massive (but empty except for Ireland fans) airport last night. My views on the complex Israeli/Palastinian conflict have not changed. I went for the football, enjoyed my stay but won't be back.

[SuperDub]

Great trip one of the best. I really enjoyed the hospitality. The security was a pain but they were very polite. People stopping us on the street to thank us for comming was mad. Jerusalam was amazing. I certainly would go back if the security procedures were'nt so long.

As for that muppet on the plane comming home "yes he does like the sound of his own voice" I have being on a number of flights he has being on over the years and he is painful, Thankfully he was pretty quiet for once on sunday probably because he made a smart comment about the air steward looking like sammantha Mumba and it did'nt go down to well with her.

[Ash]

Class trip from start to finish.

Deadly craic in Mikes place then we flaged down a local
who gave us a lift to Cheers and had a bit of a sing song
there aswell.

Freindly locals, cheap food and beer, deadly weather. Couldnt have
asked for more (apart from a win at the game!)

[gspain]

So , how was Israel?
Did you enjoy your stay here?
Do you think differntly about Israel now? ( security and stuff like that )
Would you say its one of the top 5 or top 10 trips you hade?
If we ( Israel ) well meet you at the qulifiers for Euro 2008 , will you come??
Please answer all 143 foot.ie fans that came to Israel.... :D

Great trip.

No issues with security - actually much less than I expected - 45 minutes from security check to duty free shop going home. No problem going in.

Would definitely come back if we play again and probably anyway even if we don't.

Would have been in the top 3 away trips but for THAT goal.....

Tel Aviv is the 3rd most dangerous city we've played in in this group - much safer than Paris or Dublin but not as safe as Basle because the Swiss are far better drivers. :D

[gspain]

Class trip from start to finish.

Deadly craic in Mikes place then we flaged down a local
who gave us a lift to Cheers and had a bit of a sing song
there aswell.

Freindly locals, cheap food and beer, deadly weather. Couldnt have
asked for more (apart from a win at the game!)

We met!!!!! - Friday night - great craic but it was Buzzstop next door and not Mike's Place which was a bit quiet. Buzzstop was abaolutely rocking. Needless to say my 7am trip to Jerusalem the following morning got changed to a 1pm breakfast in Old Jaffa.

[Cowboy]

What a bell end, Talk about a bloke who loved the sound of his own voice... The whole trip I seen him !! Heard a sham rovers fan told him "where to go" one night in mikes bar and he nearly started crying

I also heard he was giving others some grief. I know people were laughing at him on the plane but for the rest of the weekend he was a pain in the arse. A mate of mine said to me "you have to go on an organised trip occasionally just to remind yourself why you dont do it " :)

[Cowboy]

Great trip.

No issues with security - actually much less than I expected - 45 minutes from security check to duty free shop going home.

Thats because you only brought a toothbrush (which was x rayed twice ) :)

[Ash]

We met!!!!! - Friday night - great craic but it was Buzzstop next door and not Mike's Place which was a bit quiet. Buzzstop was abaolutely rocking. Needless to say my 7am trip to Jerusalem the following morning got changed to a 1pm breakfast in Old Jaffa.

Got them mixed up, Buzzstop it was.Massive craic in there.
I didnt make it to any trip the next day apart from the game!

Cheers was deadly cos it was full of locals who didnt quite know what to make
of 3 buck edjitts from Ireland singing "Ohhh Yossi Yossi, Yossi Yossi Yossi Benayoun" :)
A few of them nervously joined in then they started singing "Keano Keano"

[Cowboy]

Boys, I wasn't there but I think in the interests of everyone going on the Faroes trip (me included) this joker should be named and shamed. Someone out there knows who he is . . .

I've never seen this guy on any trip without a travel agent so perhaps we will be lucky and he wont make it. Some of his mates are just as bad, I remeber arriving in Albania and being help up by imigration because one of his mates was shouting and roaring at 6 AM in the arrivals hall. I've no problem with someone havinga bit of craic but this guy just ****ed off the border guards. They were with 747 on that trip.

[Cowboy]

what do you mean by that, up for a bit of the irish steak?

no, pork :)

[Eire06]

irish steak?

What when you get around all the fat theres f**k all meat left ;)

[Eire06]

i wouldnt know about that, you must have more experience than me eire06 :p
Experience in what I'm just chattin about eating dinner :confused: what you on about :confused:

[DubJohn]

Hi bonk lad,

Had an absolute ball like everyone else who went.

The security on the way over was a bit hairy... we were the only 2 paddys on a scheduled El-Al flight and we got the third degree for about half an hour. But, that was the only down side. Once on the flight, we were treated like kings!

The buzz in Tel Aviv was special and all the Israelis were fantastic.... Friday night was rocking! And the ladies are without doubt the nicest I've ever seen and very friendly! The city made a huge effort to make us welcome... it was unforgettable. I just hope we could do the same.

Came around on the beach Saturday morning, not knowing how I got there! If anyone can shed any light, I'd appreciate it!!

Match was... well... hmm.

Will love to go back when the political situation changes.

Definitely the best away trip I've been on...

Take care...

[Peadar]

The only downsides were the exteremly long security procedures on the way back but the staff were polite so I guess its just a minor annoyance.


I was through security and passport in under 15 minutes.
No bother at all and got a big smile from everyone.
The airport is well posh!

On the way over from Heathrow to Tel Aviv, I got a full body scan.
Anyone else get that?
They take 3 full images of you in different standing positions and it can see under your clothes.

I was coming back from Heathrow last night to do a bit of work and got searched twice.

Hopefully our Israeli friends will make the return trip to Dublin in June.

[tall chapy]

Hi Bonk,Eldad,yigal..israeli guy
What can I say the country pulled out all the stops for the Irish. You must have got loads of positive publicity about it.
Security
Everyone was interviewed at Dublin airport for at 15-30 mins. it seemed immigration was carried out in Dublin, a bit like travelling to the USA. As the previous people said it was mild and professional. Including Victoria and the guy from Laos... ;)
Passport control was light on the arrival at Tel Aviv, mainly because it was done in Dublin.
Coming home it was a different matter. X-Rayed the luggage which is fair enough, then had to go to another desk here everything was taken out and sniffed using a handheld gadget and then put through the gasspectrometer.Some of my stuff 'failed' god knows why and had to be boxed separately.Then at passport control they did it again with my hand luggage !!
The hospitality was unbelievable, everyone was friendly and went out of their way to help. Everyone was polite and could not be helpful enough. Many were delighted that we came to Israel.
As for the young ladies they were the best I have seen on any away trip
People stopping at the roadside, blocking the traffic and taking photos of us outside the pub was something else !!
No complaints about the food, could if done with a good fry which I believe was on offer at Mike's Place.Missed it :mad:
Weather was fabulous, even at night time, though a little cool it was fine compared to Dublin standards.
Beach was excellent, walked along it to Jaffa.
The driving in Tel Aviv is mad, stop where you want, drive where you want.Best example was young people on moped driving on the path to avoid going down a one way street. A police traffic division would not go amiss.
Jerusalem was also friendly enough, visited Yad Vashem. was not as graphic as I thought it would be. Did the usual tourist things around Jerusalem, wailing wall,Church of the Holy Sepulchre...missed out on the Al Asqa Mosque, but it was their holy day so I doubt if I could have seen it anyway.
One regret was that I did not visit more sites in Tel Aviv. Ben Gurion's house. Haganah musuem, knesset and that building up at King Saul Boulevard, but I doubt if they do tours !! LOL :p
I enjoyed my stay, no complaints.
Would I come back ? as many Israelis asked me, if I win the lotto I would come back. One problem is that their are no direct flights to Israel and it cost me over €800 to get there.You have everything in Tel Aviv, weather, infrastucture, beaches..women..LOL..
Many Israeli people seemed surprised that the Irish came. Personally, I am not surprised. The Irish people do not find Israelis bad people. The argument is more with the government of Israel and not even with there being a state of Israel. I expected the Israelis to be friendly and they were. One thing though, nobody spoke about the Israel/Palastinian problem. It was avoided like the plague by both sides. Not that it should be at the forefront considering we were there for a football match.
Anyway, Toda raba to all the Israelis on the website who help us so much and to all those Israelis who made our stay so memorable
Pity about the result and where we locate at the end of the stadium the acoustics were crap and it did not help that the pilgrimage crowd did not roar and chant, but as they will say tomorrow c'est la vie
Best of luck and hopefully you will do the business :)

PS - Yigal, I never got to Caesaria :(

[Yigal]

Well, first of all, I want to say that it is great to read all these wonderful things you have to say 'bout Israel. Really warms up my heart...
I'm really glad you had a great time here and hope that you'll come back to visit Israel on your vacations. And spread the word about our wonderful country, our hospitality, our sun etc...

2 tall chapy
It's 2 bad you didn't make it to Caesarea, it's a really beautiful place! I actually went there Saturday morning with my folks and apparently they made a new presentation over there, something digital, I think... Didn't go to it as I didn't have enough dough with me (the entrance to the site itself is free for me as a citizen of the nearest city), but I'll go there one day...
If you want - I can mail you some pictures of Caesarea. Just mail or PM me if you want it...
And I hope you'll make it to Caesarea one day by yourself, without your national team has to play here! :)

And if somebody comes to visit Israel again - you just have to visit Eilat! You wont regret it! Beautiful place! Just be prepared to the heat... Ask me if you want more details!

[donalfitz]

On the way over from Heathrow to Tel Aviv, I got a full body scan.
Anyone else get that?
They take 3 full images of you in different standing positions and it can see under your clothes.

I had no problems going or coming back through Heathrow, They search my bags and x-ray my shoes, body check by hand. You must have been extremely dodgy character or very nervous.
We never got to meet for that free drink. ha ha :D

[Shae_B2D]

I had no problems going or coming back through Heathrow, They search my bags and x-ray my shoes, body check by hand. You must have been extremely dodgy character or very nervous.
We never got to meet for that free drink. ha ha :D

Well, when I went through Heathrow to Dublin they almost had me taking all my clothes off there, and I'm a very innocent looking girl...

[donalfitz]

Well, when I went through Heathrow to Dublin they almost had me taking all my clothes off there, and I'm a very innocent looking girl... :eek: :D :D
All I can say to that is: What are you doing tonight? :D

[Shae_B2D]

maybe that was for a different reason!!!! :_
Oh well. I could see that one coming :)



All I can say to that is: What are you doing tonight? :D

Getting drunk and booing the French team, I believe. :)

[donalfitz]

Getting drunk and booing the French team, I believe. :)
At long it's a draw as it will suit us fine. The more points both team lose the better chance of us. :D

[Shae_B2D]

I honestly think this will be a draw tonight as well.

30 min in, and it is still 0 - 0, the French's favorite score... I am too afraid to predict, to be honest.

[Yigal]

Well, it ended 1:1... Israel was a favorite in the second half after Trezeguet was shown a red card, but luckily for France we suffered a poor shooting day...
And Barthez got lots of booings during the game. Actually, every time he touched the ball he was booed...
2 bad Switzerland beat Cyprus 1:0...

[Shae_B2D]

And Barthez got lots of booings during the game. Actually, every time he touched the ball he was booed...


yeah, that one had me laughing for most of the game, I was working on the computer on the same time and wasn't always looking, so the crowd helped me figure out who had the ball. :)

[dcfcsteve]

Israel trip was definitely the best away trip I've been on - and I've been on some belters.

The Israeli's were fantastic - even had tricolours on every lampost on the main streets. The craic was absolutely awesome - even managed to get mistaken for one of the Irish team in a bar with Peader (Cork City), alongside Kav, Richard Dunne and Stephen 'no game for yee Derry boys this weekend' Paisley.

Awesome trip - and it's still not over, as I'm in an internet cafe next to Petra :D I did have to drop my pants at Stanstead airport so the dimmo security guards could realise that the object the metal detector kept picking-up was the zip on my trousers, and had a ****** overland crossing into Jordan, but am hoping the return flight on Monday will be hassle-free. Bonk - I'm doing the weekend in Eilat, so any tips etc send them my way :)

My opinion of Isarel as a country (ignoring the government's policies) has been positive ever since I did a trip around the country in 1998, but it's gone up a notch again. Met some top Israeli lads who are looking to come over to Dublin for the June fixture.

The Faroes will have to work hard to match up to this....

P.S. Who were the 2 langers in the Irish end at the game who turned up wearing lime green 'Free Palestine' T-shirts ? Talk about being inflamatory. Turkeys. Would they like it if a couple of French turned up at Lansdowne wearing 'Hands off Ulster' tops......?

[bidishi]

I want to tell u that Ireland fans is one of the best in europe...
I talked with some irish people and they were very nice.

I hope that u will come again to here we will host even better then last time...

I hope that u enjoyed from your stay here!!!

good luck to Ireland!!!

Erez from Israel

:ball:

[Shae_B2D]

i asked this question on the other topic, but i dont think israelis are checking that so here goes again:

were there any hasidic jews at eh match or welcoming hte irish?? are htey into sport and what do you israelis beleive or feel towards them??

i dont want to go off topic here, but if someone could enlighten me more i woudl greatly appreciate.

dcfcsteve dont worry i beleive everything you say i just wnat to hear it from an "everyday" israeli.

Yes, there are a lot of Hasidic jews who are into sports. most of them, actually, are a fans of Beitar Jerusalem (that's the team who also has the racist fans - it's not all of them, just few, but a very loud few, and because of them there was such a big fuss about Abas Suan scoring the goal on saturday). I used to see them on fridays, going to practices of the team, and on saturday evenings, sometimes walking long distances to the stadium to get to the games, because they don't want to break the Jewish law of sabbath. I didn't see any on saturday, but there were 40,000 people and almost a quarter, I believe, were from Jerusalem, so I'm sure they were there.

[Peadar]

You must have been extremely dodgy character or very nervous.

It was all very civil and they were taking the odd few out of the massive queues to ask if they'd like to fast track through this new system.
I was dying to see how it worked so I jumped at the chance.
It's well cool but couldn't cope with large numbers through it in quick succession.


We never got to meet for that free drink. ha ha :D

You must be the only one I didn't buy a drink for.
Luckily the Israeli guys don't drink much. :D
I offered two local girls a drink and they shared a diet coke.
Pity the Irish girls weren't as easily catered for. :D



I want to tell u that Ireland fans is one of the best in europe...

Officially we're among the best in the world.
Just ask the Japanese after World Cup 2002.

[Shae_B2D]

You must be the only one I didn't buy a drink for.
Luckily the Israeli guys don't drink much. :D
I offered two local girls a drink and they shared a diet coke.
Pity the Irish girls weren't as easily catered for. :D

You haven't met me, then. I think I drank about 7 pints on friday afternoon only, not too bad for an Israeli. although, I did learn to drink during my backpacking in Ireland... on the other hand, for the rest of the weekend I couldn't drink more than two beers per evening / noon drinking session...



Officially we're among the best in the world.
Just ask the Japanese after World Cup 2002.

Gotta say, it's amazing. I've got a "sport pics" wall at home, where I hang pictures I find which represent the things I love about sports, and I've got a huge photo of the Irish fans from the WC 2002. not to mention I've taped the AMAZING reception you held for the players when they got back to Dublin from Sky News.