Indian Tourism to Israel

Arrival Volumes, January 2017 to December 2019: The Build-Up to a Record

The growth of Indian travel to Israel followed the prime ministerial visits of 2017 and 2018. During Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to India in January 2018, the two governments signed a protocol amending their Air Transport Agreement. The protocol provides for code-share, block-space and joint venture arrangements on agreed routes [1]. In February 2018, Israel's Ministry of Tourism approved a one-time grant of €750,000 to Air India. The grant was set at €250,000 for each weekly flight, up to three flights, for an airline opening a new route into Tel Aviv [2]. Air India flight AI139 landed at Ben Gurion Airport on 22 March 2018. It was the first scheduled service to Israel allowed to cross Saudi Arabian airspace [3]. Air India planned three weekly Delhi to Tel Aviv flights of about seven hours. El Al's Tel Aviv to Mumbai flight took about eight hours because it flew around the Arabian Peninsula [4]. Arrivals rose after the route opened. Haaretz, citing Central Bureau of Statistics data, reported that tourist arrivals from India in the first ten months of 2018 were 21 percent higher than in the same period of 2017 [5]. The Ministry of Tourism later gave the full-year 2018 total as 70,800 Indian visitors, a record [6]. It gave the 2019 total as about 69,100 [7]. The figures in this explainer are ministry totals as stated by its India marketing office. The underlying Central Bureau of Statistics tables by country of citizenship could not be deep-linked for this piece. India is among Israel's ten largest source markets for tourists. The ministry's India office describes India as Israel's largest source market in Asia [8].

Arrival Volumes, January 2020 to September 2026: Pandemic, War and Partial Recovery

The COVID-19 pandemic stopped most international travel to Israel in 2020 and 2021. Indian arrivals began to recover in 2022 and reached 30,900 that year [6]. For 2023, the ministry has given two figures that do not match. A report in January 2025 put full-year 2023 Indian arrivals at 41,800 [9]. In July 2026, the ministry's India marketing director said nearly 44,000 Indians had visited between January and September 2023 [7]. Both are Ministry of Tourism figures. The sources consulted do not explain the difference, and this explainer does not prefer either one. On 7 October 2023, the day of the Hamas attack on southern Israel, Air India cancelled its Delhi to Tel Aviv flight and the return service. On the same day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the attacks terrorist attacks and expressed solidarity with Israel [10]. Indian arrivals fell sharply after that date. About 8,500 Indians visited between January and October 2024 [6], and the full-year 2024 total was 9,600 [11]. For 2025, the ministry's India office gave a figure of 13,800 in February 2026 [8] and a figure of nearly 13,900 in July 2026 [7]. The July figure is the more recent statement. In January 2026 alone, about 2,500 Indians visited Israel [8]. The ministry says it aims to bring Indian arrivals back to pre-war levels by 2027. Its India marketing director has said that without the war, the market could have passed 100,000 visitors a year [7]. That number is a projection, not a count.

Pilgrimage: The Largest Single Segment

Christian pilgrimage is the largest single reason Indians travel to Israel. Ministry data reported in March 2025 show that about half of the 9,600 Indian visitors in 2024 came for pilgrimage, and most of them came from Kerala. The ministry expected 48 percent of 2025 visitors to be pilgrims [11]. Kerala has one of India's largest Christian populations, and parish and diocesan groups from the state usually travel together in organised tours. Visa rules treat these tours separately. When Israel launched its e-visa for Indians in January 2025, group applications stayed outside the new system and continued through existing channels [12]. For Indian visitors in general, the most visited places include Jerusalem, Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee [8]. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City is the central stop for Christian pilgrims. Indian pilgrimage to Jerusalem is older than the modern state. By tradition, the Sufi saint Baba Farid meditated in Jerusalem in the early thirteenth century. The Indian Hospice in the Old City grew around his memory and served Indian Muslim travellers for centuries. A family of Indian origin still looks after it. Indian Jewish communities, including the Bene Israel, Cochin and Baghdadi Jews, settled in Israel in large numbers after 1948. Their family ties produce visits in both directions.

Leisure, Business and Conferences: The Wider Segment

The ministry's India office says that before the pandemic, more Indian visitors were choosing Israel for leisure holidays, for meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE), and for experience-based trips [7]. Popular stops for Indian visitors include Tel Aviv, Eilat on the Red Sea, the Dead Sea and Haifa, as well as Jerusalem [8]. The ministry has added food and culture events to its promotion in India, including a showcase by an Israeli chef in Bengaluru [8]. It also runs training sessions, webinars and familiarisation trips for Indian travel agents and journalists, and it promotes family, luxury, MICE and experience-based travel alongside pilgrimage [13]. Visa policy has changed to help individual travellers. From 1 January 2025, Israel opened an electronic visa for Indian citizens who live in India. The system is linked to Israel's Entry Travel Authorization system. Applicants need a valid passport, confirmed return flights and travel health insurance [12]. At launch, India was the only country whose travellers could use the Israeli e-visa [9]. Indian citizens still need a visa to enter Israel. The political framework for these steps was set out in February 2026. During Prime Minister Modi's state visit to Israel on 25 and 26 February 2026, the two governments raised their relationship to a "Special Strategic Partnership for Peace, Innovation and Prosperity." The two leaders stressed cooperation between peoples as well as between governments. They also agreed to explore linking India's Unified Payments Interface with Israel's fast payment system [14].

Direct Routes, March 2018 to December 2026: One Link, Many Interruptions

Before 2018, El Al's Tel Aviv to Mumbai flight was the only direct link between the two countries. El Al suspended its India flights in 2020. It had planned to return with four weekly Mumbai flights and two weekly Delhi flights, but in October 2023 it suspended India service until further notice [15]. Air India suspended its Tel Aviv flights after 7 October 2023. It briefly resumed them in March 2024 and suspended them again in August 2024 during tension between Israel and Iran. It restarted five weekly Boeing 787-8 flights on 2 March 2025 [16]. On 4 May 2025, flight AI139 was diverted to Abu Dhabi after a missile fired from Yemen landed near Ben Gurion Airport, and the route was suspended again [17]. Flights resumed in February 2026 and stopped at the end of that month after the war with Iran began. A planned restart on 1 October 2026 was postponed. Air India has now announced five weekly flights from 1 December 2026, which would be the only direct service between the two countries, with a flight time of about five and a half hours [18]. Under the new schedule, AI139 leaves Delhi at 05:00 and lands in Tel Aviv at 08:30 [13]. Both governments have backed more routes. The February 2026 joint statement called direct air connectivity "a basic building block" of the relationship. It encouraged both Indian and Israeli airlines to start direct flights [14]. El Al and Arkia have studied flights to Mumbai and Delhi. Without permission to fly over Oman, the route takes about nine hours, and many passengers choose cheaper connections through the United Arab Emirates [19]. Gulf carriers have carried much of the India-Israel traffic since 2023 [7]. On 2 October 2026, flydubai suspended its Tel Aviv flights at the request of the authorities after an incident on board a Dubai to Tel Aviv flight on 30 September [20].

In One Paragraph

Indian travel to Israel peaked at about 70,800 visitors in 2018 and about 69,100 in 2019, according to the Israel Ministry of Tourism. It recovered after the pandemic to about 30,900 in 2022 and nearly 44,000 for January to September 2023, then fell to about 9,600 in 2024 and about 13,900 in 2025 after the war began on 7 October 2023. About half of recent visitors are Christian pilgrims, mostly from Kerala. The others travel for leisure, business and conferences. Air India's Delhi to Tel Aviv service, opened on 22 March 2018 over Saudi airspace, has been suspended several times since October 2023 and is scheduled to restart with five weekly flights on 1 December 2026. Israel's e-visa for Indians took effect on 1 January 2025. In February 2026, the two governments called direct air links essential to their partnership.

Sources

1. Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. "List of MoUs/Agreements Signed during the Visit of Prime Minister of Israel to India (January 15, 2018)." January 15, 2018. Table row 3.https://www.mea.gov.in/bilateral-documents?dtl/29356/List_of_MoUsAgreements_signed_during_the_visit_of_Prime_Minister_of_Israel_to_India_January_15_2018.
2. Press Trust of India. "Delhi-Tel Aviv Direct Flight: AI to Get Grant from Israel." The Tribune, February 6, 2018.https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/archive/business/delhi-tel-aviv-direct-flight-ai-to-get-grant-from-israel-540020.
3. Agence France-Presse. "In World First, Air India Crosses Saudi Airspace to Israel." Times of Israel, March 22, 2018.https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-world-first-air-india-crosses-saudi-airspace-to-israel/.
4. "Saudi Skies Are Now Open to Flights to Israel." CNN Money, March 7, 2018.https://money.cnn.com/2018/03/07/news/india-israel-saudi-arabia-airspace-delhi-tel-aviv/index.html.
5. "State Pays Airlines to Fly to Israel, but Do All the Tourists Visit Here?" Haaretz, December 27, 2018.https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/business/2018-12-27/ty-article/state-pays-airlines-to-fly-to-israel-but-do-all-the-tourists-visit-here/0000017f-f2aa-d497-a1ff-f2aae9ee0000.
6. Press Trust of India. "Israel Eyes 10,000 Indian Tourists in 2024 despite Unrest, Plans E-Visa Facility." The Week, November 21, 2024.https://www.theweek.in/wire-updates/business/2024/11/21/cal11-wb-israel-tourism.html.
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14. Prime Minister's Office, Government of India. "India-Israel Joint Statement." February 26, 2026. Sections "Trade, Investment, and Connectivity" and "Together into the future."https://www.pmindia.gov.in/en/news_updates/india-israel-joint-statement/.
15. Kupietzky, Joshua. "El Al Suspends Flights to India, Cancels Seasonal Routes." Airways Magazine, October 2023.https://www.airwaysmag.com/legacy-posts/el-al-suspends-flights-to-india-and-cancels-seasonal-routes.
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17. "Air India Suspends Tel Aviv Flights till May 6 after Missile Attack near Israeli Airport." The Tribune, May 4, 2025.https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/india/air-india-suspends-tel-aviv-flights-till-may-6-after-missile-attack-near-israeli-airport/amp.
18. Pearl, Alon. "Air India to Resume Israel Flights in December." Globes, September 28, 2026.https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-air-india-to-resume-israel-flights-in-december-1001557742.
19. "Israel-India Flights Await Decision by Arab Country." Globes, November 2, 2025.https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-israel-india-flights-await-decision-by-arab-country-1001525286.
20. "Flydubai Suspends Tel Aviv Route after Flight Deck Incident, Investigation Underway." Business Today, October 2, 2026.https://www.businesstoday.in/world/story/flydubai-suspends-tel-aviv-route-after-flight-deck-incident-investigation-underway-559282-2026-10-02. ** **