Qatar Airways with Israel passport

Question

I am planning to spend New Year in Tokyo. Qatar Airways offers the most affordable ticket with a layover in Doha. Recently, I have heard that Israeli citizens (like me) had problems with this company, as their flights were cancelled without explanation. Moreover, I have a Teudat Maavar (provisional passport, not a Darkon) and would like to avoid all these potential problems with the air company and layover in Doha.

Answer 1

According to the tool on the Qatar Airways official website, Israeli nationals do not need a visa to transit through Doha. However the tool doesn't allow anything but the various types of passports, since you don't have a passport it would be wise to call and ask if they have a special requirement for travel document holders. Similarly, Israeli citizens do not need a visa to Japan with a regular passport, but might need one with a travel document.

Generally it is not an issue for Israelis to travel through Doha as long as they stay airside. On some special occasions (like the world cup, business reasons, or participating in conferences and competitions) Israelis were granted visa to enter Qatar as well.

There are risks involved when flying with the Middle East connections, one of which is potentially landing in hostile countries unexpectedly (namely Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Yemen). The airline will have to take care of you if that happens (and it did happen on occasion), and you're not to deplane unless absolutely necessary or being forced to.

There was a case of a middle eastern airline refusing to let an Israeli passport holder board (Kuwait Airways), they got sued by the regulators, and in one case had to drop the flight altogether to not be forced carry Israelis, but in another case were allowed to discriminate. However this is not the case with Qatar Airways, and AFAIK there have never been any recent issues for Israelis flying with them. While no official diplomatic relationships exist between Israel and Qatar, they do have relationships, and Qatar currently serves as the mediator between Israel and Hamas.

All that said, it might be safer to avoid traveling with the middle-eastern or Turkish airlines for now, even if there are no official restrictions. People may have their personal opinions and they may want to make these opinions known to you, some times through actions.

Answer 2

Qatar is the only company that I heard had rejected the flight of Israelis

I recommend avoiding Saudia and EgyptAir as well.

Look: the ongoing conflict in the middle east is fluid and no one knows what's going to happen next in the next 2 months and how the Arab world may react to it. Your saftest bet is to route through Europe with an an airline that also serves Israel.

Unfortunately New Year's is a popular travel time and tickets will be more expensive than usual. I actual found Turkish Airlines to be cheaper than Qatar. Turkish is a safer bet than Qatar but not entirely safe either. In fact, before the war Turkish airlines was one of the most active carrier to/from Israel with 10+ daily flights. Qatar has always been more cagey about this and typically Israeli citizens needed a special Visa (with some exceptions during the world cup).