Width 45 m (Israeli side) | Opened 26 April 1982 Total length 200 m (Israeli side) | |
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Carries Pedestrians, Vehicles, Containers Official name Taba Border Crossingמעבר מנחם בגיןمعبر طابا Daily traffic 2,147 pedestrians in 200574 vehicles in 2005 Similar Jordan River Crossing, Ben Ezra Synagogue, Nitzana Border Crossing, Church of Saint Peter in Gallica, Dominus Flevit Church | ||
The Taba Border Crossing (Arabic: معبر طابا, Hebrew: מעבר מנחם בגין formerly Hebrew: מעבר טאבה) is an international border crossing between Taba, Egypt, and Eilat, Israel.
Contents
- History
- Israeli terminal
- Services within the terminal
- Transportation to and from the terminal
- Passage fee
- References
History
Opened on April 26, 1982 it is currently the only entry/exit point between the two countries that handles tourists. The site is at the bottom of Mount Tallul and was close to Raffi Nelson's Nelson Village and the Sonesta Hotel which both closed due to the handing over of the Sinai to Egyptian control in exchange for normalization of relations. Under terms of the deal, Israelis would be able to visit the Red Sea coast from Taba to Sharm el-Sheikh (and Saint Catherine's Monastery) visa free for visits up to fourteen days. In 1999, the terminal handled a record amount of 1,038,828 tourists and 89,422 vehicles.
The terminal is open 24 hours a day, every day of the year except for the holidays of Eid ul-Adha and Yom Kippur.
In February 2014, a coach taking tourists to Saint Catherine's Monastery in Sinai exploded in Taba shortly before crossing the border to Israel. Three South Korean nationals and one Egyptian national were killed, while 14 South Koreans were injured; the blast was blamed on terrorists.
In September 2016, the Israeli side of the crossing was renamed to "Menachem Begin Crossing" after the late prime minister, who signed the peace agreement between Israel and Egypt.
Israeli terminal
The Israeli border terminal was opened in September 1995 at a cost of US $3 million.
Services within the terminal
Transportation to and from the terminal
The Israeli border terminal can be reached from within Israel via Egged bus number 15 from Eilat's central bus station. Privately owned Israeli cars and rental cars may cross through the terminal. But rental cars from Israel may only stay in the confines of the Egyptian border terminal (this includes the parking lots of the Hilton Taba and Mövenpick Taba Resort) while privately owned Israeli cars may travel within the Sinai after a change of license plates, registration and the payment of a tax.
Passage fee
All travelers to Egypt must pay a border-crossing fee before leaving Israel. The border-crossing fee is NIS 106 (January 2016) per traveler. The fee is quoted in NIS and is updated once a year (on January 1) linked to the Consumer Price Index. It is also payable by credit card for an additional Service charge of 5 NIS.
All travelers to Egypt don't have pay any border fee (entry fee to TABA ) up to 1km from the border. That's mean all travelers to Mövenpick Resort or Hilton Taba Resort hotel or Radisson Blue Resort Taba they will not pay any fees, but they have must printed reservation to this hotel and show it at the border.
If they have not, that all must pay this fees according rules higher.