Access-Israel has launched a database that will serve the needs of the disabled visitor to Israel.

 http://search.aisrael.org/english/

The ancient Caesarea amphitheater is "dressed up"
with a brand new walkaway in its restoration section.
It makes for easy walking for wheelchair tourists -
but be aware of the distances. While this section
links the amphitheater to the port area, wheelchairs
cannot maneuver the crossing over; to visit the port
area, drive there by car. Both the amphitheater and
the port sections have ample bathroom facilities.

www.parks.org.il

Ein Gedi is located 400 meters (1300 ft.) below sea-level, in an area of primeval, lunar-like beauty, surrounded by a desert of craggy slopes and deep canyons, rich in history and antiquities. Set on the shores of the Dead Sea in the Judean desert lies Kibbutz Ein Gedi, established in 1956. From the beginning, members of Ein Gedi understood that trees, grass and flowers would symbolize their victory over the isolated, barren wilderness in which they had settled. Thus, over the years, an unusual botanical garden was developed here, under conditions of plentiful water and a constant hot climate. The work of the kibbutz members enabled rare unique plants that were brought from afar to flourish, and turn the entire Kibbutz Ein Gedi into a special botanical garden, an oasis with more than 800 unique and rare species of trees, shrubs and flowers from all over the world. There is parking and a toilet for the disabled and the paths are accessible for wheelchairs. For more information, please call Becky at 972- 8- 6584444

This is a good time to visit Agmon Hahula, the recently prepared national park/nature reserve in the Hula Valley, which provides a wonderful vantage point for observing natural phenomena around the lake and surrounding green area. Every fall/winter thousands of birds fly here from cold Europe either to spend the milder months in Israel or on their way to Africa. According to Protection of Nature Society officials, some half a billion migratory birds find their way to Israel every year.

In Agmon Hahula one can rent a four-wheel open vehicle with a guide or drive-it-yourself. There are rooms to let in nearby moshavim (villages.)

This brand new site run by the Jewish National Fund (JNF) has been developed with special attention to people with accessibility needs. There are no stairs in the area, all passages can be negotiated with wheelchairs, there are lookout posts with low windows and accessible toilets.

Private cars with a disabled sign are allowed to enter the parking area which is close to the entrance. Plans are being drawn up to accommodate visitors with visual and hearing disabilities.

http://www.jnf.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Birdwatching

The Bet Gavriel Cultural Center, overlooking the Sea of Galilee, hosts performances, lectures, conferences and exhibitions in a beautiful rural setting. The impressive building is an outstanding example of the best of Israeli architecture. It was built for Mrs. Gita Sherover in memory of her son Gavriel and has served as the venue for peace talks with neighboring countries. A shop and cafe restaurant serve visitors. Appropriate facilities on the premises enable wheelchair travelers to be among the visitors.

Located at the Tel Hai Industrial Park, the museum features changing exhibitions of top-notch photographers, a permanent exhibit on the development of photography and a collection of rare cameras. In a separate building nearby, a display of car models from the early 20th century can be viewed.
Tel. 04-6950769

http://www.ilmuseums.com/museum_eng.asp?id=91

At 26 Shabtai Levi Street in Haifa, the Haifa Museum of Art is located in an historic building built in the 1930's in Hadar HaCarmel. The Museum of Art focuses on Israeli and international contemporary art, and includes a collection of 7,000 items, mostly contemporary Israeli art, but also a large collection of international graphic art. The museum's auditorium hosts a variety of cultural activities: theater; dance; music and lectures. Guided tours are available. There are accessible amenities: elevator, cafeteria and rest rooms.

For more information please call: 972-4-8523255/204 FAX 972-4-8522714

http://hms.org.il/home.asp?M=2  (Hebrew only)

The new Herzl Museum complex includes a state-of-the-art museum with the most modern audio-visual effects, and a Zionist learning center. Among the artifacts on display are the desk on which Theodor Herzl wrote “The Jewish State” which was published in 1896 and documents from the First Zionist Congress held in Basel, Switzerland between August 29th and 31st 1897.

The inauguration of the Museum coincided with the Hebrew date of Theodor Herzl’s birth in Budapest on the 10th of Iyar in 1860, which was designated last year by the State of Israel as the official day for commemorating Theodor Herzl, the visionary of an independent and sovereign Jewish National Home.

The new Herzl Center, located on Mt. Herzl in Jerusalem, is a project of the World Zionist Organization and is supported by the Jerusalem Foundation.

The Israel Museum in Jerusalem is a Mecca for art lovers. Contemporary and classical paintings, a sculpture garden and a photography section, and a youth wing are among the museum’s features. Regular lectures and special programs – films, concerts, children’s activities are also part of the agenda. Elevators, railings and adequate toilets make the museum accessible to wheelchair visitors.

www.imj.org.il/eng/visitor/

The Jerusalem Mall - convenient shopping for the wheelchair
bound. Built in 1992 at a cost of $85 million, the Jerusalem Mall is
located in the Manhat (Malcha) Quarter. Three stories high, with
elevators and moving staircases, and spread over 100,000 square
meters, the mall, conceived by David Azrieli of Canada and planned
by architect Avraham Yasky of Tel Aviv, houses 260 businesses, of
which 180 are shops and 80 are offices and stands such as fast
food stands. For wheelchair visitors there are special separate
parking areas, roomy toilets, wide doors and passages and an
easy access to the cinema on the premises. Best time to visit are
morning hours - opening is at 9:30 - before the crowds set in.

The Museum for Islamic Art on Palmach Street in Jerusalem specializes in
exhibitions of cultural objects covering peoples from southeastern Europe
to India and from Baghdad to Samarkand, as well as from the entire Middle
East and and ranging in time from the 7th to the 19th century. One of the 9
galleries also exhibits a watch collection. The museum is accessible for
people in wheelchairs through the entrance from the parking lot; suitable
lifts and toilets are also on the premises, as well as a cafeteria.

Opening hours: Sun, Mon.,Wed. and Thurs. 10-3pm.; Tues. 10-6p.m., Fri., Sat.
holidays and holiday eves 10-2p.m. Please check the hours.

For more information, call 972-2-5661291.

www.islamicart.co.il

Located about a 15-minute drive from the heart of Jerusalem at Kibbutz Ramat Rachel is an artistic environmental project. It consists of 200 olive trees planted in concentric rows leading to an amazing site - the Olive Columns Monument: from tree-like stone columns in this historical mountain landscape facing the desert, grow 3 living olive trees – symbols of fertility, strength and peace. Mitzpe Rachel, which takes its name from the Tomb of Rachel located nearby, and is adjacent to the 164-room Ramat Rachel Hotel grounds, is an archaeological site with artifacts and remnants going back to the First Temple Period, where visitors can see the ruins of a Byzantine church, a Roman camp, cisterns and a ritual bath, as well as get a breathtaking view of Jerusalem and Bethlehem. The entire area, including a restaurant and conveniences, is wheelchair-accessible. Parking is some 30 meters from the premises, there are ramps, three special toilets in the public areas, and conveniently placed telephones and elevator buttons.


For more information, please call 972-2-6702555

www.ramatrachel.co.il

One of Jerusalem's most-recently constructed buildings, the
Yitzhak Rabin Youth Hostel and Guest House is a neighbor of the
Israel Museum, the Bible Museum, the Knesset, the Science Museum,
the Botanical Garden and the Hebrew university Givat Ram campus.
An accessible parking lot, a roomy lobby and toilets and 3 specially
equipped guest rooms (there are altogether 77 guest rooms) permit
wheelchair guests to enjoy this airy building. A restaurant serving
lunch and dinner is on the premises; and who knows, you might get
to rub shoulders with one of the members of parliament
or one of the university professors who often stay at the guest house.

www.youth-hostels.org.il

The Open Museum near Beersheba was established in 1995 by industrialist Stef Wertheimer. It is located within the Omer Industrial Park which accommodates some 30 companies in various fields of industry, hi-tech and services. Wertheimer's idea was to eliminate the separation between the world of art and the world of industry. The museum has an art gallery which shows changing exhibitions of Israeli art. In addition, a sculpture garden, a film and a cafeteria are available to the visitor. The museum is accessible to wheelchair visitors and has appropriate facilities. For more information, please call 972 (0)8-6492-692 or 6492-696.

  http://www.ilmuseums.com/museum_ENG.asp?id=153

The Dance Library in Beit Ariella Tel Aviv, (left on the Tel Aviv
Museum Plaza) is wheelchair accessible. Three thousands videos
of dance can be viewed while listening with earphones so that the
sound is personally adjustable. And there is a mass of literature -
some 5,000 books and magazines - about dance, most of it in
English.

Sunday, Monday, Wednesday : 14.00-18.00
Tuesday, Thursday : 10.00-14.00
Please the check hours.

Beit Ariela Municipal Library
25 Rehov Shaul Hamelech Tel-Aviv, 64367 Israel
Phone : 972-3-6910141 ext -268
Fax :972-3-696-5645

www.dancelibrary.org.il

The Eretz Israel (formerly Haaretz) Museum in Tel Aviv has
wide paths, no stairs and accessible toilets. A reconstructed
old market, mirroring conditions as they were in the times
of the Romans through the Byzantine period, features workshops
with demonstrations of glassblowing, pottery and weaving. Other
current exhibits depict sculptures made of animal bones and
modern glass design.

The museum is open Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday from 9-3,
Wednesdays 9-5, Fridays 10-2. Please check the hours.

For further details call 972-3-6425820 and ask for Miri.

www.eimuseum.co.il

The Shalom Tower, Tel Aviv’s first skyscraper, has held numerous exhibitions about Tel Aviv and its development. Currently two exhibitions can be viewed inside the building: a photography show of some 40 works by Tel Aviv photographers called “Tel Aviv, the City that Never Stops,” and an exhibition of works by students of architecture. Both of these can be seen during morning hours every day except Friday and Saturday. The major attraction in the building is an 80 square meter large wall mosaic on the ground floor – a mosaic composed of one million colored stones graphically illustrating the beginnings of the city. Appropriate conveniences for wheelchair travelers are on the first floor. Free guidance for groups can be had on request.

For more details, please call Chana at tel.972 (0)3-517-3111. telavivinf.com/prat/built/mig/shalom/page.html

The Suzanne Dellal Centre for Dance and Theatre, located in the Neve Tsedek
section of Tel Aviv, in the heart of the first Jewish neighborhood built
outside of Jaffa, is a 3-building complex always alive with music, dance and stage performances. Equipped to welcome wheelchair visitors, it has nearby
parking, wide sidewalks, spacious toilets and an elevator to the theatre hall.  Inaugurated in August '89, the Centre was founded by the Dellal family of London.

For more information, please contact Rachel at 972-3-5105656.

www.suzannedellal.org.il

The First Aliyah Museum commemorates the pioneer founders who came
to the Land of Israel between the years 1882-1904. Located at 2 Hanadiv
Street in Zichron Yaakov, and opened to the public in 1999, it was
established in memory of Moshe and Sara Aronson, among the first
settlers of Zichron. Convenient parking, a large elevator and roomy
conveniences make it easy for physically challenged visitors.
Among the many attractions is one of the oldest films depicting the
Tel  Aviv of days gone by.

Visiting hours:  Sun.,Mon.,Wed. and Thurs.9a.m.-4-p.m.,
Tues. 9a.m.-7p.m., Fri.9a.m.-1p.m., Sat.10a.m.-2p.m.                                              Please check the hours.

For more information please call 972-4-629-4777 or FAX 972-4-629-4224.