Tourism Ministry launches effort to combat 'ugly side' of Israelis
"We must not sweep this under the rug," says Director General Amir Halevy, referring to growing trend of aggressive Israeli tourists • Tourism, Education Ministries to work together to teach children appropriate behavior at a young age.
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The Tourism Ministry held a meeting on Monday to discuss the growing phenomenon of aggressive and violent behavior by Israelis on vacation.
The meeting followed the recent widely publicized incidents in which an Israeli woman and her relatives aboard an Israir flight to Varna, Bulgaria, shouted at and threatened a flight attendant who would not sell the woman chocolate, and in which vacationers at an Eilat hotel, who were locked out of their rooms after refusing to move their car from a disabled parking spot, became physically and verbally abusive toward staff.
"We must not sweep this phenomenon of violent behavior under the rug," said Tourism Ministry Director General Amir Halevy.
Officials at the meeting sought to determine the scope of the problem occurring on flights and in hotels.
"This problem must be dealt with from a young age, and for that we will ask for the cooperation of the Education Ministry," Halevy said. "We plan to approach the Education Ministry and to work together to have an effect on children's behavior from a young age."
He said this kind of aggressive behavior has a negative impact on the Israeli tourism industry and economy.
"Every incident, whether big or small, could potentially go viral, as every tourist carries a camera. The moment these incidents end up on social media websites, a great deal of damage is done to Israel's image," he said.
In the southern vacation city of Eilat, police say there are dozens of incidents of violence against hotel workers each month. As part of a crackdown on this type of behavior, police have required the security officers at each hotel to report all incidents of physical violence.
This past weekend alone, police were called to deal with two violent altercations at Eilat hotels.
"Unfortunately, the person who was injured was an innocent citizen on vacation who wound up witnessing these violent incidents against his will," one police officer said.
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