Keeping in Touch : Isreal

Mail Telegram Fax and Telex offices are usually open Sunday Tuesday and Thursday 8am-12:30pm and 3:3O-6pm, Wednesday 8am-2pm, y Sam-lpm, and are closed Saturday and holidays. In the larger cities some “ices may keep longer hours. Mail from North America to Israel can take up to two weeks; mail sent from Israel to North America is considerably faster. On the street yellow mailboxes are for mail within the same city, red mailboxes are for all other mail. If you need to mail something to any country within 72 hours, most post offices offer international Express Mail Service, or EMS.

Travelers have three means of receiving mail: Poste Restante (doar shamur in Hebrew), American Express Client Letter Service, and ISSTA. Poste Restante functions in Israel, though you must ask repeatedly to receive all your letters (address them: Name, Poste Restante, Main Post Office, name of city, Israel). Have tellers, check under both first and last names, and, if possible, check yourself. Always bring your passport or other proper identification. Lines at American Express are short, and employees often let you check the letter pile. Lines at ISSTA are another story.

You can send a telegram by dialing 171. Post offices and hotels will also send telegrams for you. Fax services are available in many post offices around the country. Telex service is available in Tel Aviv at the Mikveh Israel post office (see practical information in Tel Aviv) and in Jerusalem at the central post office.