You are likely wondering whether it is safe to travel to Israel and what will happen if the decision is made to postpone or cancel your Holy Land tour. What I have been telling pilgrims is that we have adopted a "wait and see" policy, where we are encouraging tour hosts and their pilgrims to wait for decisions to be made until just before we are into a penalty phase with the airline.
 
While we at MTS are unable to make promises on behalf of the airlines, we can tell you that in the past when these circumstances arose, we were able to refund all money to every tour participant and waived all cancellation penalties. Once again, we expect to adopt this policy, although we are praying it will not be necessary. We obviously cannot refund money that is not returned to us.
 
In the  meantime, please refer to the following website of the Israel Ministry of Tourism, which is being updated regularly:

http://www.tourism.gov.il/tourism_eng, click on "What today's headlines mean for tourists to Israel."
 
Within this information, it states, "If you decide at the last minute to postpone your trip, tour organizers and airlines have agreed to our requests that they waive penalties."
 
As of today, we have checked with several airlines, and they are waiving penalties for persons departing from the U.S. within the next ten days to two weeks. They, too, have developed a "wait and see" policy, taking care of immediate travelers.
 
We are praying and believing that the current situation in the Middle East will end soon, so that we are able to move forward in sending pilgrims to the Holy Land safely and securely.
 
I will try to keep in touch with you with any updates to our information.

Lindy Witman, MTS Travel