Thread by @mishtal

In the departure lounge at Ben Gurion Airport in #Israel waiting for the flight back to London.

Six weeks. I wasn't here for a holiday but I certainly managed to squeeze some quality travelling in.

Some thoughts about what I've seen
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Israel is in an incredible place. There's no comparison to the state I first saw decades ago. The dynamism is everywhere. It is young, vibrant and ever-developing.

There are new buildings going up everywhere

The road system is incredible, inter City travel is easy and with the trains and light railways, you can see the country is ahead of the curve now. Everything is online, WiFi is fast, data is dirt cheap and even their notorious customer service has caught up.

I found the travel apps far better than those in the UK. Their integrated systems work better and moving around was cheap and easy.

I didn't rent a car to see how difficult it was. It wasn't. Israel is a country that wants to be seen.

The main city centres like Jerusalem and Tel Aviv are young, vibrant and fun. The mix of modern Liberal thought and religious orthodoxy sharing the same streets, is so unique and special here. A new tower block, next to an ancient archaeological dig. Old and New everywhere.

Israel's Arabs are far more integrated than they used to be. A real achievement. When you see young people out having fun in the city these days it is often impossible to know if they are Jew, Muslim, Christian or Druse. They are all Israelis and its great to see.

And the haters are all so insignificant and far away. Seriously. all the anti-Zionist aggro in Europe and the States doesn't even touch the sides here. Those haters do not have a clue about Israel & their ignorance is easily identified within a minute of walking the streets here.

Israel knows it is going places. The UAE deal just the latest sign. In time the Arab states will make peace with Israel because it is in their interests to do so. What threatens Israel, threatens them too - and everyone will prosper from the peace.

So my time time is over here now. And I am heading home. I loved every minute of it. I am refreshed, reinvigorated and with batteries charged.

Ready to fight the haters.

Which is really, really bad news for the antisemites.

Be seeing you.