Tel Aviv Airport: Passport Stamping Procedures Explained

Israel has stopped stamping passports at Ben-Gurion (Tel Aviv) airport. However, if you are travelling to Beirut, you may want to ensure that Israel does not stamp your passport. If you have an Iranian stamp in your passport, you may be interrogated by border police. If you fly El Al, you may be subject to special checks.

Israel stopped stamping passports at Tel Aviv airport a few years ago

Israel stopped stamping passports at Ben-Gurion (Tel Aviv) airport a few years ago. This was seen as a smart move from a tourism perspective. However, if you are travelling to Beirut, you may want to ensure that Israel does not stamp your passport. If you fly from Israel to Jordan, you can avoid a stamp showing your entry to Jordan, as you could have entered Jordan anywhere with the stamp you will get at Amman airport.

If you are concerned about having your passport stamped, you may want to avoid flying with El Al, as they are known for humiliating single travellers at the airport for hours. However, if you fly with another carrier, you may still be subject to special checks, which are usually much faster. It is worth noting that if you have an Iranian stamp in your passport, you may be interrogated by border police upon your arrival at Tel Aviv airport.

If you fly to Jordan, you will have a stamp showing you left Jordan but no corresponding stamp with your entry to Jordan

Israel stopped stamping passports at Ben-Gurion (Tel Aviv) airport a few years ago. However, if you travel to Jordan, you will get a stamp in your passport, which will be clear evidence that you were in Israel. If you fly from Israel to Jordan, you will have a stamp showing you left Jordan but no corresponding stamp with your entry to Jordan. The only way to avoid this is to fly to a third country and then fly from there to Jordan.

If you are concerned about having an Israeli stamp in your passport, you should avoid flying with El Al, as they are known for humiliating single travellers at the airport for hours. Other carriers may or may not have special checks, which are usually much faster.

You can't ask the Jordanian authorities not to stamp your passport

Israel stopped stamping passports at Ben-Gurion (Tel Aviv) airport a few years ago. However, if you travel to Jordan from Israel, you will get a Jordanian stamp in your passport, which will be clear evidence that you were in Israel. It is against Jordanian law not to stamp passports. You can't ask the Jordanian authorities not to stamp your passport. If you want to avoid this, you can fly from Israel to Jordan, or fly to a third country and then fly from there to Beirut. At the King Hussein Bridge, Jordanian authorities will automatically stamp on a separate piece of paper, but at the other two borders, you must ask for it before giving them your passport.

You may be interrogated by border police if you have an Iranian stamp in your passport

Israel stopped stamping passports at Ben-Gurion (Tel Aviv) airport a few years ago. However, you may be interrogated by border police if you have an Iranian stamp in your passport. Since late 2018, Iran has changed its visa policy and no longer stamps foreign passports. Instead, your visa details will be recorded on a separate piece of paper. This change was made to address concerns about how an Iranian visa stamp might affect your future travels, especially to countries with strict visa regulations like the United States. The decision to stop stamping passports was influenced by travel restrictions imposed by other countries, particularly the US. When you arrive in Iran, you’ll receive a small slip of paper instead of a passport stamp. This slip will serve as proof of your entry and exit from the country. Keep this paper safe throughout your trip. You’ll also need it when you leave Iran. The electronic system used to track entries and exits ensures that your visit is properly recorded without leaving a stamp in your passport. If you’re someone who likes to collect stamps in your passport as souvenirs, you can still request one. When you arrive or depart, simply ask the immigration officer if they can provide a physical stamp.

If you fly El Al, you may be humiliated at the airport for hours

Israel stopped stamping passports at Ben-Gurion (Tel Aviv) airport a few years ago. However, if you are travelling on to Beirut, you may want to make sure that Israel does not stamp your passport, as the Jordanian stamp will be clear evidence that you were in Israel.

> Don't fly El Al. Ever. They're the only ones who humiliate single travellers at the airport for hours.

In 2010, the Haifa District Court ruled that El Al must compensate two Arab Israelis 30,000 shekels for humiliating them during security checks in a New York airport. The brothers were closely guarded throughout the checks, their movements were constrained by the airline's security detail, without anything that would determine them as a security risk.

In another incident, Attorney Rawia Abu-Rabia, a member of the Board of Directors of the Abraham Fund Initiatives, was subject to humiliating treatment, including threats and shouting, by El Al’s Security officer in Newark. Other El Al staff members were present. Ms Abu-Rabia’s experience is one of many similar incidents experienced every year by Arab citizens who leave or return to Israel. These citizens are required to undergo strict security examinations that are much more extensive and intensive than those imposed on Jewish travellers, and even in comparison to security checks conducted on foreign-citizen travellers.

In 2018, El Al issued an apology and offered compensation to religious passengers. The airline’s failure to explicitly apologise for the mishap drew criticism from customers, with one passenger writing:

> For me, this is a humiliation of the highest degree. Even their apology is not an apology.

In addition, El Al has been criticised for its treatment of women passengers. One passenger called an El Al flight from JFK an "11-hour nightmare", during which she was bullied and intimidated by an ultra-Orthodox male passenger who refused to sit next to her.

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