One week from today will be Christmas Day! Normally, Israeli hotels would be filled to overflowing with tourists from all around the world, and many preparations would have been made for Christmas related events in Bethlehem. Bethlehem today is not a small village, it’s a city, with thousands of people! I saw it from a distance of only a few miles when I visited Israel just three months ago. Bethlehem today is a Palestinian city in the “West Bank” area of Israel, about 5 miles south of Jerusalem.
As you may know, this Christmas week 2023 hotels in Israel are empty, and virtually no Christmas celebrations are happening in Bethlehem due to the war resulting from the October 7 Hamas attacks on several Israeli kibbutz communities near Gaza.