Rating: 
Summary: If only they spent more time on research...
Review: ...and less on campaigning, it could have been an excellent guide. Alas, alas. It would be unreasonable to expect neutrality and even-handed approach from Lonely Planet (although they almost manage it sometimes; the best I've seen was Canary Islands, by the way). Israel guidebook is one example where they feel their political opinion is so valuable that it has to be offered on almost every page.I am no Middle East expert and I do not know who is right and who is wrong in the conflict - but in any event, I do not want my guidebook to preach to me. I buy guidebooks for travel, accommodation, eating and sightseeing information - and this part is only so-so. The guide has some helpful info (for example, about passport stamps and about beating the bureaucratic system - or at least minimizing its impact). The book has not been researched sufficiently and choices of hotels, for example, often feel they have been picked at random. There is one thing you realize after reading about a dozen Lonely Planet guides: a very large part of the book is actually cut and pasted from one book to another. When you are paying for a Lonely Planet guide, you are paying for much less particular destination information than you imagine: there are pages and pages of generalities of no practical relevance. Why insult intelligence of a reader with gems such as "pack as little as possible but take everything you need"? I can think of no other reason but to artificially increase the volume of the book so it seems a better value for money. As usual, information about "Getting there" is very, very poor. Same tired "advice" about buying tickets from discount travel agents (and you thought about buying them from your dry-cleaners, didn't you?), same behind-the-times feeling when it comes to internet (although now there is a reluctantly compiled list of travel sites, which conveniently excludes some of the biggest and the most helpful on-line travel agents, to which the authors are presumably opposed on ideological grounds). Where sightseeing is concerned, the guide lack focus, descriptions are uninspired and don't feel particularly tempting. There are many other guides to Israel, take your pick - but Lonely Planet is best left on the shelf, unless of course you want to have a full collection.
Rating: 
Summary: An absolute necessity for all travellers to the Holy Country
Review: A visit to Israel probably ranks high on the list for every traveller in the world given it's vast history, it's religious connotation and it's current political situation. There are many beautiful coffee-table books about the country that wet the appetite for a trip. For the actual planning and for going around in the country, particular when you travel on your own, there is only one alternative and that is the LP guide. It gives you very comprehensive information on what to expect, how to behave, what health precautions to take ( it is a western country in culture but not in nature!), how to get around( e.g. the passport shuffle to avoid stamps. A stamp in your passport prohibits you from visiting other Middle Eastern countries) etc. The information on all the places to visit is very elaborate with good attention not only to the practical details but also to the historical and cultural value of the sites, like e.g. the info on the Via Dolorosa and the 14 stations Jesus stopped on his way to the Crucifiction. You are much better off walking yourself with the LP guide in hand, able to contemplate this deeply moving place than in the hands of one of the local guides/peddlers who do everything to distract you from your own thoughts to get you into one of the souvenir shops ( Mind you, it is in the Arab Quarter, so do not expect too much understanding for what you might feel). The guide prepares you for trips into the Palestinian Territories. It does makes sense to read the newspapers to see whether there are any major problems, but generally the Guide is right in saying that there is little danger involved and that the Palestinians are more than friendly towards visitors. The information on hotels is adequate; I did not involve a travel agency in planning my trip but used the telephone/fax adresses from the guide and have not been dissapointed. Particularly helpful to me was the inclusion of a little section on the Egyptian side of the Sinai. I wanted to do some diving in Eilat, but decided after reading the guide and it's instructions to go to Sharm El Sheikh at the southern part of the Sinai which is with its Ras Mohammed National Marine Park probably one of the best dive spots in the world. Thanks to the guide, the organisation was a simple website visit in a Jerusalem hotel and accomodation was arranged. Finally, I recommend the guide for the very sensitive way it handles the many religious issues in Israel. It certainly helps to makes you understand and contemplate the whole situation a little more.
Rating:
Summary: Tough to bear only for certain people
Review: alfassa is angry because this book states things that are true and hard for him to bear looking at. It seems that even the smallest, slightest compassion towards Palestinians expressed anywhere on this planet draws the ire and vitriol of anyone who is pro-Israel and pro-Zionist. No one can deliver such attrocious treatment to peoples without drawing blowback in response. I think this book should have been titled Israeli Terrorist and Palestinian Terrorist. When a people are terrorized for 50 plus years by state funded terrorism, and those people are not allowed to have a military with which to protect themselves, what do you expect?? Individuals who react to military violence and state funded racism with further violence are then named terrorist themselves. I call it blowback. Stuff like this doesn't happen for nothing. Of all the racism I've ever seen in the world, I've never seen it as bad as the Israelis have done to the Palestinians. And my taxes are fully funding this.
Rating:
Summary: Tough to bear only for certain people
Review: alfassa is angry because this book states things that are true and hard for him to bear looking at. It seems that even the smallest, slightest compassion towards Palestinians expressed anywhere on this planet draws the ire and vitriol of anyone who is pro-Israel and pro-Zionist. No one can deliver such attrocious treatment to peoples without drawing blowback in response. I think this book should have been titled Israeli Terrorist and Palestinian Terrorist. When a people are terrorized for 50 plus years by state funded terrorism, and those people are not allowed to have a military with which to protect themselves, what do you expect?? Individuals who react to military violence and state funded racism with further violence are then named terrorist themselves. I call it blowback. Stuff like this doesn't happen for nothing. Of all the racism I've ever seen in the world, I've never seen it as bad as the Israelis have done to the Palestinians. And my taxes are fully funding this.
Rating: 
Summary: A Biased Pro-Palestinian Point of View
Review: Budget travelers frequently rely on the Lonely Planet series to guide them in thrifty and educated choices for journeys to exotic locales. Unfortunately, the series' Israel & The Palestinian Territories (3rd Edition) by Andrew Humphreys and Neil Tilbury (1996) is anything but edifying. The volume is filled with half-truths and innuendo, and displays a generally disagreeable attitude toward Israel and its Jewish inhabitants. This decidedly biased tone pervades the book and colors the authors' rendering of historical detail. The legacy of Israel given in the 'Facts about the Country' section reflects the traditional Arab version of events almost from start to finish. For example, rather than describing the newborn Israel as being attacked by five well-equipped Arab armies, as well as British-supplied Palestinian militia groups, the authors write that "fighting erupted between the Arabs and the Jews" and "Palestinian Arabs, primarily a peasant society, were no match for the Jewish immigrants with modern weaponry and strategy." Israel's current security concerns are treated mockingly by Lonely Planet. In an explanation of the prevalence of weapons in the hands of Israel's youthful soldiers, the guide passes quickly over the terrorist threat the citizen army guards against to say that guns "double as crucial fashion accessories" and are worn in social settings for reasons of "narcissism." Military service is said to conclude when Israelis reach their mid-30s and "have finally grown out of teenage things like guns." About Israeli airport security measures, designed to protect passengers against terrorist violence, the guide writes "middle-aged American couples with names like Weintraub can waltz through this in minutes ... everyone else ... ought to bring a long engrossing novel." Myriad other inaccurate and offensive passages about Israel mar Israel & The Palestinian Territories and undoubtedly mislead thousands of tourists who make the mistake of relying on this guide.
Rating:
Summary: Superficial
Review: I am a LP fan, but after been living in Israel for almost 3 years I have to say that this guide is very superficial. It could be much better ... for example, there are restaurants that everybody know in Israel, very popular, very nice that are not mentioned in the guide. I would expect something more from LP ... sorry :(
Rating:
Summary: There are more helpful books on travel
Review: I am sorry I bought this book. It is not a terrible book, and it came recommended, but it was disappointing. I wanted something different than the usual books, but simply put, the more widely known guide books are better and more helpful.
Rating:
Summary: Political opinion VS visitors guidebook
Review: I have a number of Lonely Planet guides and this is the only one that goes out of its way to make political statements about the country. Along with that is the poorly researched information about what to see and where to stay. Shame on Lonely Planet. They are unquestionably the best guide books around except for this one.
Rating:
Summary: If you buy only one guide, this is it!
Review: I purchased the Lonely Planet Guide, the Knopf Guide to the Holy Land, and the Insight Guide for Israel. All are excellent resources, and really seem to serve different needs. The Lonely Planet Guide is way ahead in providing helpful info about the day-to-day details of your trip. It has more restaurant and hotel listings and tells you about the feel of the place. It provides suggested iteneraries, which I find especially nice. Finally, it gives details on getting from place to place, which can really help reduce vacation stress. The Knopf Guide to the Holy Land is a truly beautiful volume which manages to capture the people and history like nothing else. It has fold-out views of the Via Dolorosa and its coverage of all the sites is amazingly detailed and really prepares you to get the most out of your visit. The Insight Guide's color pictures are nice and I like their presentation of the history, but the Knopf Guide really excells in this, so I find myself using the Insight Guide just as another opinion on which sights to see. We'll be carrying the LPG to get places, but the Knopf Guide will be our reference once we arrive. All in all, the Lonely Planet Guide is the must-buy book in this category. Buy the Knopf Guide second.
Rating: 
Summary: Bias Does Come Through
Review: Like most of the Lonely Planet books with which I am familiar, this one has a lot of good facts that are very useful for the traveler. The information on passport stamps, for example, is very handy if you plan on traveling in other countries in the Middle East. However, I have to disagree with avalonwitch and agree with alfassa; the pro-Palestinian (or anti-Israeli; pick your poison) bias in this book is very strong and pervasive. Right from the beginning, one notices things such as the fact that B.C. and A.D. are used, rather than the Jewish or Muslim equivalents (or the widely-accepted B.C.E. and C.E.) There's a sidebar swipe at the Mossad, for example, that concentrates on their "bungles" (of which there are, of course, some) rather than such successes as the detection of the Iraqi nuclear reactor, the successful capture of Nazi war-criminals, and so on. This attitude is all through the book. That said, there's some good stuff here. I just wish Lonely Planet's editors could have been more even-handed. After all, while Israel has certainly done some things that are pretty awful (e.g., Lebannon), the Palestinians aren't exactly free of blame, either (e.g., strapping bombs to themselves and going to discos to blow themselves up). An even-handed approach would have made this another excellent Lonely Planets guidebook.
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