Intensive Arabic Semester

Everyone should have a phone during the program. There are several ways to get a phone here. You can rent a phone from several companies that provide short term and long-term phone rentals in Israel. Some of these companies have an office at the airport and you can pick your phone up when you arrive. This is very convenient since you’ll have a phone when you arrive and can coordinate with the kibbutz immediately, although keep in mind that these phones are often many years old (remember the year 2000?) and the rental fees can be overpriced. If you want a cheaper option you can always buy a SIM card while you are in Israel and buy minutes as you go. SIM cards usually cost somewhere between twenty and forty shekels ($5-$10) and then you can either buy a phone here or bring a SIM card compatible phone with you from the United States (although beware some phones do not work because of frequency issues). You could always rent a phone for a few days so that you’ll have a phone when you arrive and later switch to a pay as you go phone. You can also rent a SIM card from some of the rental phone companies and bring your own SIM compatible phone with you. It’s up to you what you decide. Below are some rental companies. Israel Phones has an office at Ben Gurion and is probably the easiest company to use (although it can be expensive).

RENTALS
Israel Phones
Rent Center
Rent-a-Phone
Israel Sims
Telestial
Talk and Save

PHONE COMPANIES YOU CAN BUY SIM CARDS FROM IN ISRAEL
Orange
Cellcom
Pelephone
Telit