There was an article out of Hollywood that pointed out that Tel Aviv has become the vacation destination of choice of the celebrity world. No surprise to me.
I went to Japan in 1970 and have returned every year since then. I am wildly in love with Japan and Tokyo. My passion in that case spread to others rapidly over the next few decades. I found that nearly all interesting, artistic, creative and highly intelligent people were in love with Japan.
I had been to a kibbutz in Israel in the late 1950’s, visited again in 1990. It was my visit in 2003 that showed me what a fantastic place Israel is and how exciting Tel Aviv has become.
On my 2003 visit I discovered the incredible beaches of Tel Aviv, the dancing, the all night life, the incredible business start-up environment, the coffee shops and most of all the wonderful people.
The big change was the pro commerce vitality that Bibi Netanyahu brought to Israel in the early 1990’s when he and a few others discarded the oppressive backward looking socialism that made Israel a boring place.
I’m glad the world is discovering Israel and Tel Aviv. Like Tokyo, it is one of the greatest places on earth and there are very few.