Israel, Egypt, Jordan - July, August, Sept: - Which order??

#7 and #8 stop being childish. You know that Sinai up until recently was more favoured than Eilat by Israeli tourists but anyway Sinai in my view is one of those place where people should watch and visit after checking out as the heady hippy days may become history - which is sad because its a special and different kind of place.

It was interesting to read ...." An Israeli source well aware of the situation and with ties to the Egyptian owners of the resort" - hmmmmmmm seems like he might have had an Israeli partner who admitted the place used to be popular with Israeli visitors.

Mesha:

#7 and #8 stop being childish.

But you then agree with the gist of what we posted:

Sinai in my view is one of those place where people should watch and visit after checking out as the heady hippy days may become history - which is sad ...

so you also disagree with Catw's irresponsible and unqualified recommendation of Sinai !

#11 Sinai has had inumerous problems recently but hitherto was the playground of Israelis, who enjoyed spending their vacation there.

I believe you and CATW have a clash of views - but she always posts very accurate and informative answers and is very knowledgable on the area in general. People are still going to Sinai and it doesn't seem to bother some people but then a lot of people are not as well informed as some of us who live in the area regarding events over the past 11 months. Package tours are still going there from all over Europe, so . . . in a way she is right :))

Sinai is perfectly safe to this day, it's South Israel which is not as it was targeted by terrorists coming from the Gaza Strip, according to the Government of Israel. As we speak, there are still Israelis vacationing on the beach in Sinai, especially in Taba.

Haaretz' article explains that Bedouins are occupying a resort in Sinai and asking compensation because they consider the land on which it was built belongs to their tribe. They are on strike and do not threaten anyone. Such strikes are common and also happen in Israel since Bedouins also live on the Israeli side of the border. This has nothing to do with tourism or the Bedouin-run beaches in Sinai - they will not go on strike in their own beaches!

Mbgg and Shufaluff are known Egypt bashers, not a reliable source of information on the Middle-East.

#13 (catw)

Sinai is perfectly safe to this day, it's South Israel which is not

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Nonsense. South Israel is perfectly safe.

Mbgg and Shufaluff are known Egypt bashers, not a reliable source of information on the Middle-East.

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More nonsense. I too would like to see a link to a post by either wherein they "bash Egypt". Also both are very reliable sources of information on the Middle East - certainly more reliable than most of what you post.

South Israel is not safe, there were major terrorist attacks which caused a lot of casualties near Eilat at the end of last year.

#16 (catw)

Then by the same logic the Sinai is not safe, since there were terrorist attacks in the past as well (e.g., the blowing up of part of the Hilton Taba hotel).

And for the record, the attack "near Eilat" to which you are referring was on a relatively little-used border road, not anywhere near the main highway to Eilat - and certainly far away from the usual tourist routes. Implying all of southern Israel is not safe is sheer nonsense.

Nobody bashed Egypt.
I personally think Egypt is amazing, Sinai is one of my favorite places in the entire world and I even recommended Sinai as an option to the OP but if you're knowledgeable about the ME (as I assume most of the posters here consider themselves) and you recommend going to Sinai right now without even mentioning the security situation, you are simply irresponsible!
Nowhere in the ME is 100% safe but comparing a single terrorist attack near Eilat in which the terrorists actually came from Sinai (!) to an area in which the local government has lost almost all control and has suffered dozens of fatalities in the last decade in suicide bombings directed specifically against tourists in places like Sharm, Dahab, Ras al-Shitan, Taba (one of which I was unfortunate enough to personally witness), is demagoguery and simply ridiculous (and oh so predictable considering the author).
To the OP, like I wrote, you can go to Sinai, just be well informed and updated as to the situation.

Sinai is perfectly safe right now. The Egyptian authorities control the area as usual. The bombings that occured took place many years ago and, sadly, targeted Israeli tourists.

South Israel is considered by foreign embassies as an unstable area since it was recently targeted by terrorists coming from the Gaza Strip (and not from Sinai, amirico - Netanyahu himself said they were from Gaza and had entered Israel though a tunnel, and the Israeli army retaliated by bombing the Gaza Strip a few hours after the attack near Eilat).

The Israeli governement is currently trying to change the newtwork of roads around Eilat precisely because they think it's no secure, and they want it to be safer. There is a controversy in Israel right now as environmentalists complain this rushed change will harm the environment, while government officials plead that security must come first.

The "weakening of Egypt's control over Sinai" has no reality; it's just one of the numerous politicals argument used by right wing parties in Israel to try and convince the Governement of the USA to back up a military regime in Egypt.

#22 If by "South Israel" you mean the area close to the Gaza Strip, Sderot and so on, these places are not on the itinerary of most tourists so I am most likely safe in saying it is irrelevant to the OP's question.

As for "roads around Eilat" see what I wrote in #18.