Questions asked at the Jordan-Israeli border

Questions that they have no interest in knowing the answer to. Like "what school did you go to". They have never heard of your school. But they can see whether you are telling the truth by the way you answer.

I am obviously Jewish, have lived in Israel for decades and (surprise!) speak Hebrew. At the airport when leaving I get asked things like "which synagogue did your parents belong to?" (they have obviously never heard of it), "where did you learn Hebrew?" (as if they care)... it's to see whether you are telling the truth or have something to hide and are stumbling and fluffing an answer.

If they ask you your dog's name or what you ate for breakfast, just answer truthfully. If you are a genuine tourist you have nothing to fear.

The PP is right..Just to add a couple of examples, I am always asked for the full names, birth dates and professions of both my parents and all 4 of my grandparents so perhaps you should have this information to hand just in case ;-) My cell phone is searched each time I enter Israel/West Bank and all Islamic-sounding/Iranian/Turkish/Arab names are noted down on a paper before the security staff ask for a full and very detailed account of exactly how I know each person, where we met, the person's profession, marital status and current location and someone types all the information into a computer whilst I am saying it... So if any such names are stored in your cell phone or diary then please be ready to go into a lot of detail about each person - even if you say you haven't seen the people for like 5 years or something it doesn't make any difference...To save time, whenever I enter now, I "change" some of the names: For example "Mohammad" will become "Michael" and "Saeed" will become "Simon" and a couple of the digits are changed around - they are just innocent law-abiding friends but the suspicion their NAMES attract is almost unreal!! Last time my cell phone was "searched" the process still took about 2 hours.

You will almost certainly be asked for the details of where you plan to stay...If it's a hostel/hotel then be ready to show your booking confirmation documents. If you plan to stay in a private household (particularly an Arab household) then you should be ready to give the full life-story of the family in question - full names, professions, how/where/why you met, how you stay in contact, their email addresses, phone numbers, workplace addresses, who else visits the house etc...You get the picture!

Another thing, I have nearly always travelled there with Turkish Airlines and the security staff seem to take particular interest in this..."why Turkish Airlines?" - "why not Air France or KLM...?" for example. They always ask "tell us what you did in Istanbul before boarding the plane (like they CARE that I went for a coffee in the airport or browsed in the Duty Free shops!)...did you speak to/meet anyone?", "did you have anything to eat, if so what was it?", "what language did you speak in Istanbul airport?", "what time was your check-in?", "did you speak to any other passengers during the flight?"...etc

As the PP says it's best to be honest even though the repetitive nature of the questions can get tiring.

Hi,

As long as you will tell the truth, be confidence with your answers and stay cool (dont get angry...) there shouldnt be any problems

#2 Of course they don't care that you had a coffee in Istanbul airport. But someone who has a very different reason for wanting to enter Israel - and obviously not wanting to divulge the fact - would probably turn bright red and stammer some incoherent answer. Gotcha!!

As another example, some time ago an OP asked whether it would be suspicious if she wanted to film some things of a controversial political nature, and would it look better if she said she was doing it "for her church" (implication being that it probably wasn't). I suggested that she had better be able to answer church-related questions, such as the name of her priest, and how often she goes to church.

You don't know what they will ask you, so you can't prepare in advance as if it's a school examination. As #3 says, just be truthful. It's how you answer the question (body language), and whether you are trying to cover something up.

Thanks for the tips Shuffaluff! I totally agree that it's best to be honest and all the other things you suggested.

However, what made me want to scream in despair last time at Ben Gurion was when the interrogators (when they had me in a private interrogation/search/x-ray room) insisted that I was Arab and that I DO understands/speak Arabic!!! I simply couldn't win with them. My passport is from a non-Arab country, the birthplace listed is from the same country and so is my name and whole family history. I'm a European Muslim but the inquisitors kept telling me that I was "lying" and that it's "in my own interests to admit it.." that "they KNEW I was Arab/understood Arabic" and kept speaking Arabic DESPITE my protests that I didn't understand..

Racially speaking I LOOK nothing like an Arab and am very clearly a white European person. Similarly my language isn't even remotely similar to Arabic, and my style of dress isn't Arab. I told them all about my country and that it's majority population IS Muslim but they suggested that "someone else" had applied for the "change of name" and "foreign passport" on my behalf to "disguise" my "real identity and origins". It was excruciating! It felt like the interrogators were the ones playing the game, not me. The "Arab" line of questioning went on for at least an hour, it was mentally and physically exhausting! I dread to think how long I would have been stuck there if I WERE an Arab! :-)