Rodica Radian-Gordon: "The Middle East is going through a crucial moment in its history"

In the special programme broadcast by Atalayar from the International Tourism Trade Fair (FITUR), in collaboration with Europea Media, Aviación Digital and the International Press Club, we had the presence of Rodica Radian-Gordon, Israel's ambassador to Spain, who spoke to us about the great tourist attractions of the Israeli country. Radian-Gordon also analysed the new stage of rapprochement and understanding that Israel is going through with the Gulf countries and Morocco.

What does Israel expect from a fair like FITUR?

Like everyone else, what we are looking forward to is the return of tourists as soon as possible, obviously under appropriate security conditions and respecting the existing COVID-19 restrictions. In Israel we have just reopened the airport, we are now at the peak of the 6th wave, but the hope is that by the summer the situation will improve and we will be able to see tourists in the country again, FITUR is an opportunity to invite Spanish tourism to come and visit Israel.

Israel is one of the pioneering countries in vaccination, the Omicron variant is more contagious but less harmful, but in this aspect Israel has been at the forefront in terms of vaccination.

Indeed, we are now vaccinating the over 60s with the fourth dose, of course Omicron has changed the game and in Israel one of the requirements for entry into the country is to have a full vaccination schedule. In a few weeks time we hope that the infection rate will go down and people will be able to travel again.

Talking about Israel means talking about big cities like Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, but what would you say to Spaniards to invite them to visit your country?

Israel is a mixture of a holy land on the one hand and a very modern, very technological country on the other; a mixture of history and new things; it is a mixture of beaches, like the Spanish beaches, but on the other side of the Mediterranean, and very interesting mountains. In Israel we find traces of history everywhere, we are the cradle of the three religions, and every tourist is going to feel trapped by that atmosphere of warmth and tolerance that envelops you from the moment you get off the plane. On the other hand, he invited Spaniards to get to know a culture that has many similarities with the Spanish spirit; in Tel Aviv they can meet people who know how to appreciate a culture like the Spanish one, which is very similar to the Israeli one. We are an enterprising country, with creative and innovative people, with many young and energetic people, which means that there is a lot to discover and learn in Israel.  

In Israel you can combine memory, visiting the Holocaust Museum, with modernity?

There are many layers of history and memory in Israel, on the one hand, we have Yad Vashem, the most important Holocaust memorial centre in the world and, on the other hand, we have the Israel Museum, which accumulates great works of art and history, we also have museums and archaeological sites, there are also modern museums like the one in Tel Aviv, others dedicated to the Jewish people such as the Nahum Goldmann Museum of the Jewish Diaspora, as you can see we have a very wide cultural offer for all kinds of interests.

Another of Israel's great tourist attractions is its gastronomic wealth. 

Indeed, being in Spain I preferred to keep a more modest tone in relation to gastronomy, but we also have a really interesting gastronomy that comes from a mixture of cultures, remember that in Israel there are people from more than 90 different countries, so all these traditions were mixed with the local tradition making a really interesting gastronomy emerge. Personally, I would love to see Spain and Israel exchange gastronomic talent at some point in the future and offer something that I think would be very appealing.

Finally, Israel is going through a period of collaboration with Arab countries such as the Emirates and Morocco, we are in a new stage of security and understanding, is this security also something that is perceived when someone visits the country?

Absolutely, more than a year ago we signed the "Abraham Agreements" that have allowed us to open the door to the Gulf countries and Morocco, and now we have a growing collaboration with the United Arab Emirates and other countries. On the other hand, we have bilateral tourism with all these countries, and people who visit Israel now will be pleasantly surprised to meet travellers from the Gulf, and this is something that fills us with joy. The Middle East is currently going through a crucial moment in its history, of rapprochement and collaboration between countries, which obviously leads to greater security for all these territories.