"a little unbalanced just now". This is a bit of an understatement. And by "Palestine" you mean the West Bank and not the Gaza strip?

@Peter M Preferably cross over in to Palestine in Jerusalem if possible and then come out at Jalamah. So yeah, through the West bank. Though if that is not possible then just setting foot on Palestinian soil will be enough just to say I have been both politically and geographically in Asia, so does not need to strictly be Jerusalem for entry and Jalamah for exit.

@Peter M You are 100% correct. But the person I am travelling with is convinced because Israel partake in European football and Euro vision song contest it is not Asia, even though we know that is political only.

LOL Well you can't convince some people. And its been 30 years since I was in the West Bank so I have no idea of current conditions.

@JohnStrachan, I can't answer your question regarding how to properly enter PLO territories. But, first, a correction: Bethlehem is under PLO control and is considered "Palestine" no less than Ramallah or Janin. Moreover, crossing back to Israel from Palestine can take a lot of time, even before we take into account any possible Covid related restrictions. This is not something that I personally would do with the "threat" of missing the departure time of my cruise ship. Just the drive from Ashdod to Nazareth is ~2 hours long, without traffic. I would recommend you rethink your plan.

There are two things you should follow up a) whether the car rental terrms and insurance will allow you to take it to the West Bank and b) whether Israel will let you back in.

@SIMEL The ship is in Israel for two days, so no immediate concerns about missing getting back on. However I was unaware Bethelehem was in Palestine. Thanks for the tip, will reconsult google maps and find out why I thought it was in Israel.

@JohnStrachan (continuing last comment). A more "sure" way for you to visit Palestinian territories would be to take a half-day tour leaving from Tel Aviv if your timetable allows this. Otherwise, if you just want to step on non-Israeli soil your quickest option would probably be to drive to an Israeli-controlled west bank territory (no in Jerusalem, as Jerusalem is an Israeli territory), to where there are no restrictions on travel and no border crossing.

@SIMEL Sounds promising. And what about reentering?

@JohnStrachan, from my experience cruise ships dock in the morning and leave in the afternoon, which means that you dock in Ashdod in the morning and need to be in Haifa the next day at around 4 PM, which leaves you 36 hours at best, taking into account the time needed to take and return the car, driving times, sleeping and eating and also time to actually see and enjoy visiting the places, I think that a possible 4 hours wait at a "border" crossing (according to some news articles) is too high a price just to "touch the soil".

@JohnStrachan Entering and reentering Israeli-controlled west bank territories is seamless, there are no borders or checkpoints, you will not even notice that you passed the Green Line.

Would entering Jordan count for Asia?

@Damila Or even easier would be straight along the coast to Lebanon. Not too far from Haifa.

I don't think you can enter Lebanon from Israel.

@Damila Jordan would 'count' as Asia, but is it still the case that you cannot enter Israel if you have their stamp in your passport?

@WeatherVane, no Israel does not exclude based on stamps from any countries. Some exclude based on stamp from Israel, but Jordan does not. (NOTE: I am not including current COVID restrictions, just geopolitical ones. Not sure what Israel is allowing today (not much) or next December on the COVID front).

@Damila that was the case when I did the opposite journey: a 3-day visit to Israel from Jordan, but it was not recently. I had to obtain a tourist visitor permit and leave my passport where I was staying in Amman.

@WeatherVane I'm not fully following- you were in Israel, went to Jordan with a visa or visa on arrival at the bridge, and left your passport at the hotel in Jordan. Then did Israel let you back in? Note that some of the countries that would not let you in with a stamp entering Israel will also not let you in if you have a stamp showing you crossed from Israel to Jordan or Egypt, as it is indirect proof you were in Israel. So it is possible they had a way around that part, but I don't think it is because Israel would not let you in.

@Damila it was the reverse situation: I was in staying in Jordan, and took a side trip to Israel, by land across the Allenby Bridge. Then, I would not have been allowed into Israel with my passport because it had a Jordanian stamp. The tourist permit (obtained in Amman) was the way round the ban, and only by that route.

@WeatherVane, I totally believe you but I am surprised unless this was many (read 25) years ago.

As I wrote, not recently but wondered if it still the case.

Sorry I misread and about the long but interesting conversation that will probably be deleted soon. The answer to your initial question is "No, that is not still the case." :)