Getting Around

All cities, towns, and villages in the West Bank are linked through a relatively reliable and cheap network of buses and shared taxis {service, pronounced ser-VEES). Although private taxis are readily available and are usually air-conditioned, they are also substantially more expensive.

A system of colored license plates serves to differentiate cars and their users. Vehicles registered in Israel, East Jerusalem, and the Jewish settlements in the occupied territories sport yellow plates. Blue plates signify Arab cars from the territories, whereas green plates belong to Arab public transportation vehicles (taxis and buses). Other possibilities include white (UN or diplomatic), red (police), or black (army). If you must use a vehicle with yellow license plates, make sure “UN” or the name of a Christian service agency is plastered all over the car.

While normally East Jerusalem is the unequivocal transportation hub of the West Bank, the present closure (which does not apply to East Jerusalem) has made it impossible for some local Palestinians to use Jerusalem as a transit terminal; as a result, some lines have been re-routed to Ramallah, and service from Jerusalem to remote places such as Nablus may be less than frequent.