The cost of Israel

A blog post by Adam. Israel is not cheap. And I don't say this just because I am (...cheap, that is). Even some Germans we met felt that Israel was even more expensive than Europe. An Israeli lamented about housing and food costs. Here's a sampling of some of our costs...

Cost of one night at a disgusting (i.e. dirty walls, grimy floors, moldy bathrooms) hostel in Tel Aviv: $65 for two.

Cost of the cheapest place we could find in Be'er Sheva: $108...the room includes a mini bathroom.

Melissa in a tiny Be'er Sheva bathroom.

Cost of a gallon of gas: $8 or more.

Cost of one falafel: $6.50.

Cost of a plate of food at a falafel stand: $13...that's fast food, folks.

Housing. Gas. Food. It's all pretty expensive. It's no wonder we've met several Israelis with two jobs. We're constantly blown away by just how much basic necessities seem to be and often wonder how the average person survives....plus we haven't even started looking for gifts....don't expect much.

That said, we did meet a few travelers who had a medical emergency, in which one of the travelers had to be taken to a hospital by ambulance and then apparently spent half a day in the hospital. The cost? $250 for the hour long ambulance ride. $300 for the hospital stay. That likely beats healthcare reform any day of the next decade. I guess not everything in Israel is so expensive. And while we often complain about US healthcare costs, shouldn't food and shelter be even more affordable than healthcare? In Israel all Israelis have access to national healthcare but are they also able to meet their other basic needs? What good is one without the other? It makes sense that there have been recent protests about cuts in social services.

A postscript...in Eilat (Israel's premier resort town) prices seem to be cheaper than anywhere. Gas is about a $1.00/gallon cheaper. Food in the grocery store was less. And we stayed in our cheapest hostel yet. Why? An Israeli told us the taxes are much lower here because the government wanted to entice people to move here. As far as we can tell, if you don't mind millions of tourists, it's not such a bad place to be.