JUDITH SUDILOVSKY
Special to the Jewish News
r
Jerusalem
or a moment, as they
walked down Jerusalem's
fashionable King David
Street to do some shop-
ping, Detroiters Marta Rosenthal and
Michael Horowitz felt like they were
the only tourists in Israel. And it was
not far from the truth.
Since the recent violence erupted
between Palestinians and Israelis a
month and a half ago, tourism to
Israel has plunged by 50 percent,
according to Israeli Ministry of
Tourism statistics. The average occu-
pancy rate of most hotels, not includ-
ing those in Eilat to the south, has
dropped by 65 percent. Some hotels
closed entirely; up to 15,000 tourism-
industry employees have been, or will
soon be, laid off. During this fiscal
quarter, Israel is expected to lose $700
million in income due to a lack of
tourists.
"I've never seen this country at an
absolute standstill like this," said
Rosenthal, a member of the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit's
Board of Governors and executive
committee. The Franklin resident has
been to Israel 15 times.
"We went into the store of an
antique dealer I deal with all the time,
and we were his first customers of the
day — and it was 5 in the afternoon,"
she said.
"I feel lonely here, but certainly no
fear," noted Horowitz of West
Bloomfield, co-chair of the Detroit
Federation's Israel and Overseas
Allocations Committee, on his sixth
visit to Israel.
"I feel disappointed that so many
people have abandoned Israel in such
a reactionary way," he said. "While
there are real issues and concerns that
need to be addressed, the image of
events you get from television is not
really accurate."
National Trip
Horowitz and Rosenthal represented
Detroit in the contingent of 60 partic-
ipants on a quickly planned solidarity
mission to Israel, Nov. 6-9. Organizer
was the New York-based United
Jewish Communities, which represents
North American federations.
The Detroiters spent one day of
their trip visiting the Detroit
Federation's designated sister region in
the central Galilee, meeting with lead-
ers and residents. The Israeli hosts told
WO"
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