Israel

Israel is a small country, divided between nine graticules from (29,34) to (33,35). The graticules that encompass its major population centers each have their own problems: some are almost entirely in the Mediterranean Sea, others include much of the disputed territories, and still others contain a truly staggering amount of desert. One even contains all three (though, ironically, that's the one in which all the successful hashes so far have taken place). Almost all of them include some area in neighboring countries of varying degrees of unfriendliness.

As a result, finding a hash that is reachable and safe can be difficult. It is literally impossible for all four of Israel's major graticules to come up with reachable hashes on the same day, and virtually impossible for three. There's about a 50/50 chance there will be two reachable hashes, and a 50/50 chance there'll be only one -- though once in a very long while, all four graticules are unreachable. When in Israel it should be a given that all graticules should be in play and that a geohasher should not consider himself bound to only one graticule. That way mistakes like these won't happen: 2008-07-28 31 35

In summary, geohashing in Israel is tough, and all points should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis for political safety. This page will chronicle the politically safe hashes for Israelis on any given day.

The website amudanan.co.il is useful for really detailed mapping. Set the coordinates to WGS84 for longitude and latitude.

Past expeditions in Israel

• 2017-10-24 31 35 Yosef arrived in the desert near Kalya, West Bank, Israel 348 meters below sea level. Lowest geohash ever.
• 2017-10-16 31 35 Yosef failed to reach a geohash near the Abdullah bridge in Israel. No trespassing.
• 2017-10-07 31 34 Yosef did a retro-hash near Be'eri
• 2017-09-25 31 34 Yosef arrived at an orange field near Yesodot, Israel.
• 2017-09-14 31 35 Yosef arrived at a low point of -337 meters near Beit Hoglah, Israel
• 2017-07-27 31 35 Forest on Har HaRuach near Nataf, Israel
• 2017-07-25 31 35 A forest near Nebi Samuel, West Bank, Israel
• 2017-07-16 31 34 In a watermelon field between Mazkeret Batya and Yad Binyamin
• 2017-07-10 31 35 Failure to enter a construction site next to Beitar Ilit
• 2017-06-23 31 34 A field near Kfar Aviv
• February 18, 2014: Aya, Yael and LinaK Time Wrap their way to a park on the edge of Rishon LeZion.
• December 29, 2013: Lilac and Omri walk from Motsa to Beit Zait, arriving the the garticule's first successful hash.
• September 19, 2013: Omri and Maoz reach a successful hash at an empty field in Lachish.
• March 16, 2013: Omri and Moaz reach a wheat field near Kfar Kish before taking a hike at the Sea of Galilee region.
• January 27, 2013: Omri with a lucky hashpoint in Holon, at a driveway at Jessie Cohen neighborhood.
• December 14, 2012: Omri bikes to a primary school in El'ad through Yehud and the Moshavim.
• November 22, 1995: Omri's origin hash to Ramat Ef'al by bike- taken on 8th of December, 2012.
• November 1, 2012: Omri and Tal get lost at Petah Tikva and the fields north of it, probably arriving at the hashpoint after many long hours of walk.
• September 16, 2012: Omri and Moaz reach the hash at Forest Segev near Ya'ad, also visiting Tel Yodfat.
• August 16, 2012: Omri and Tal go GPS-free to a successful hash in front of an Ulpena at Askelon.
• July 17, 2012: Omri, Tal and Lilac, three brave new geohashers, discover Israeli public transport and eat pizza at the city of Asdod.
• 2011-07-02 32 35 in Haifa - Acording to satellite the point is 500m into the Kinneret lake, hoping that the drought reviled the spot.
• May 29, 2011: pseudoDust successful hash near Kiryat Gat.
• December 29, 2009: Yerushalmi and his wife went for as close as they could get to the Tel Aviv hashpoint. They didn't really go for the hashpoint itself.
• October 6, 2009: Yerushalmi and his wife were stopped by a gate guard at the Tamboor factory in the Haifa East graticule.
• August 23, 2009: Adam and the virgin Geohasher Gavi reached the Jerusalem graticule's hashpoint right outside of Modi'in.
• August 16, 2009: Yerushalmi and his wife reached the Beersheba graticule's hash point in Rehovot.
• July 17, 2009: Rachel and Adam Successfully reached the Beersheba graticule's hash point and it is dedicated to Gavi and Gracie
• June 24, 2009: Rachel had to break off and go back home while on the way to the hashpoint.
• June 18, 2009: Yerushalmi tried valiantly to get a Puppet Master Geohash without even leaving his seat. It didn't work.
• April 13, 2009: Yerushalmi and his wife didn't even try to reach the Tel Aviv graticule's hashpoint, but somehow came close anyway.
• April 10, 2009: Yerushalmi and his wife reached the Beersheba graticule's hash point near Kfar Bin Nun.
• March 17, 2009: Yerushalmi and his wife successfully reached the Beersheba graticule's hash point in Kfar Truman.
• July 28, 2008: Alternative location cheat in Jerusalem by Lady Pennywhistle.
• May 28, 2008: Haifa East graticule point was unsuccessfully reached by Ynor

Graticules and Participants

Those are the geohash graticules in Israel, plus current users:

• Jerusalem, Israel
  • Lady Pennywhistle lives in French Hill, Jerusalem
  • Yerushalmi and his wife
  • Rachel has most weekends off and wont mind going to a random place.
  • Adam Rachel's success story.
  • pseudoDust
  • Yosef The King of Israeli Geo-hashing until someone else stops him
• Tel-Aviv (Goosh Dan), Israel
  • Dor
  • Vyath
  • Improbable
  • Eyal
  • Bryan A (Moving to this graticule in July)
  • Avish
  • LiNaK
• Haifa East, Israel
  • Ynor
  • Pr0nto
• Beersheba, Israel
• Mitzpe Ramon, Israel
• Beirut, Lebanon

Any other users: Don't just lurk! Add yourselves to the wiki pages, so we can know who's participating and try to arrange meetups!

Flexibility

It is important when in Israel to understand that though your graticule may not always accessible another one might be. In this example, 2008-07-28 31 35, the hasher thought that since the hashpoint for Jerusalem was in Jordan, that there was no chance for her to geohash that day. What she didn't realize was that there was a perfectly accessible hashpoint near Yavne in Beersheba, Israel. Let's all try not to make that mistake again.

Advice for Israelis and Tourists Traveling in Judea and Samaria "Yosh"

Note: Israel is a small country and Judea and Samaria is a large part of it. It is often where the most accessible points for Israelis are within Judea and Samaria. While this is not the place to discuss politics, the writer will use the de jure and de facto names that are given by the Israeli government as that is the authority responsible for managing and governing the area. This document will focus on recommendations for Israelis and tourists (henceforth Israelis) who do not speak Arabic. Those who do speak Arabic will probably have a difference perspective. The geohasher is requested to use his own judgment and find a local who knows the area for more help.

The first thing that one must know about traveling in Yosh is that there are three types of areas in accordance with the Oslo Accords. Areas A and B are for Jordanians and tourists only and is managed by the Palestinian Authority. This area is considered Palestine. Area C is open to Israelis. Most of Area C is also open to Jordanians but there is a separation fence which they are not allowed to cross that prevents them from entering into 1948 Israel and many settlements.

The safest way for Israelis to know where to go is to follow the bus lines. The Transportation Ministry is very careful about where they allow buses to stop in Yosh, but most settlers think that these stops are foolish and prefer to hitchhike. If you see settlers hitchhiking you can assume that the area is reasonable. Know the difference between Arab and Jewish bus companies. The Jewish bus companies may have some Arab drivers but they are much safer for Israelis.

It is strongly recommended to park your car in an area where other Israelis have parked their cars. Car theft is very common in Yosh and the Palestinian Authority is rarely cooperative with helping return stolen cars.

Israeli settlements are safe enough for the settlers to raise their kids there and leave them at home.

It is recommended that the geohasher know the difference between religious Jews and Muslims.

Buses are heavily reinforced so while rocks may damage car windows, buses are often safe.

A final note of warning: There is no right or wrong in this area. The law is commonly abused and it is best to be safe rather than right. Racial profiling may save your life.

The Alternative Graticule [deprecated]

The alternative graticule map as of 04/04/2009. The implementation can no longer be found

Some Israelis may prefer to use an alternative algorithm, which defines a polygon that hugs the borders of the state of Israel. An implementation of the algorithm can no longer be found; red zones define areas that are deemed too dangerous to access. (Geohashers are encouraged to edit the red zones to help other geohashers avoid IDF fire zones, hostile settlements, etc.) In order to calculate safe points that fall within the green zone, but outside of the red zones, the algorithm uses the previous day's exchange rates, as issued by the Bank of Israel. However, even this algorithm has its problems, because many hashes end up in desert areas, and because the standard borders of Israel leave out many areas that are actually safe.

Important:

• You cannot claim achievements for reaching the alternative algorithm's point. It is solely used for the purpose of arranging meetups.
• If you are planning an expedition, make sure you announce it well in advance so that other geohashers will know where you are going. It's not very helpful if one geohasher is attending a standard graticule point while another is attending the alternate graticule point, especially if both are reachable on a given day!