Visa

Dear all,

I am planning to go in Israel for two weeks to visit an Israeli friend in Tel Aviv but I am not sure about my passport (Italian citizenship) as I've got a bunch of stamps from Lebanon and Syria.

Apart from being grilled for hours at the airport - what are the possibility of not being issued a touristic visa and being send back home?

Many thanks,
Giorgio

You shouldn't have a problem getting in. You'll probably be asked about your past visits to Leb. and Syria and about your plans for Israel.
It's also a good idea to have your Israeli friend's full name and telephone number in case they decide to verify any details.

I seriously doubt you'll be questioned for hours (let alone grilled).

As mentioned above, Israel does not deny entrance to anyone based solely on stamps in a passport.

I entered Israel last spring after having visited both Lebanon and Syria and had to "endure" a whole five minutes of questioning.

but if you are questioned at greater length, you should answer all questions calmly, patiently and truthfully.

I'd been living in Syria for six months and was really nervous about getting questioned but had no problem at all.

If you don't give them anyting to be concerned about then it's not a problem.
We were asked where we were going: Jerusalum (sorry about the spelling!)
How long: About a week
Why: Tourism.

We were mostly going to Palestine and were going to be truthful about it at the boarder, but we met a woman who had been working there for years for an NGO and said Absolutely do not mention Palestine, only say you're going to Israel.

We met a man at the hostel in Amman who told the boarder girls that he was going to Palestine and was a bit rude about being questioned about it - he was refused entry.
They never asked me about Syria or Lebanon though.

We overlanded through Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan before getting to the Eilat border. We were questioned for about 5 minutes and given visas. Enjoy your trip!