YNET
by Yaniv Halili
August 18, 2015

“Everything I saw was completely different from the way Israel is portrayed in the media,” she recounted. “Tel Aviv is a vibrant and liberal city, people here are kind, and the welcome I have received here was more incredible than any other place I have ever visited in the world.”

Emma Carter, 34, from London fell utterly in love with Israel and its people during her first visit to the Holy Land. She took to social media to share her new found passion for Israel, but found herself under attack by her friends. It got so bad that she had to close her Facebook account altogether. Carter’s good friend, Dafna Endoditch-Rau, a young Jew who lives in the British capital, decided to celebrate her 40th birthday in Tel Aviv and invited her to join her for the trip. “I was worried about visiting Israel and I hesitated quite a bit before I agreed,” Carter said. “As an Englishwoman, all I knew about Israel were the wars in Gaza. But Dafna told me that I would be safer in Israel than in London, and I decided to go and see the country for myself.” Twenty-four hours is all it took for Carter to fall in love with Israel. READ MORE