Israel eSIM for Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, the Dead Sea, and Eilat

Israel runs on a ride app, a transit app, and a week that stops on Friday afternoon, and Ben Gurion's arrivals hall is the place to have all three working. The best eSIM for Israel is the one added at home, on Wi-Fi, so the train into Tel Aviv or the sherut to Jerusalem is sorted before the passport queue moves.

Below: how an Israel plan works, how to set it up before you fly, what to expect in the cities, at the Dead Sea, and in the south, and which plan fits when the trip continues to Jordan.

Travel across the Middle East and North Africa tends to run through a hub, and most eSIMs want a fresh profile for every leg. KnowRoaming doesn't. You add the KnowRoaming eSIM, called KR.One, to your phone once, then add a plan per leg: Israel for the stay, the Gulf for the layover, a Middle East and North Africa plan when one trip covers several countries. Nothing to scan again, nothing to delete when you get home.

The plan's days start when you turn it on and connect in Israel, not at checkout. Buy it weeks ahead, add it at home, and a delayed flight costs you nothing. The full rule is in what plan validity means and when it starts.

Choose a fixed plan for a set amount of data at the lowest overall price, or an unlimited plan when you'd rather not count. Unlimited plans give you 5 GB a day at full speed, then a slower speed until the allowance resets the next day. If a fixed plan runs low, top up in the app and the extra data lands on the same eSIM.

See it in two minutes: Meet KR.One, iPhone setup with KR.One, or Samsung setup with KR.One.

Do this at home on Wi-Fi. It takes about a minute.

Before you leave

1. Get the KnowRoaming app (available on iOS and Android) and choose your Israel plan.
2. Tap Add. First time on this phone? The app adds KR.One and your Israel plan together. Already have KR.One? Only the plan is added, with nothing to scan.
3. Leave data roaming off on the KnowRoaming line until you land, and turn it off on your home line too so it doesn't run up charges in the background. Steps are in turning off roaming on your home line.

When you land

1. Turn the plan on in the app, then turn data roaming on for the KnowRoaming line. That setting lives in your phone, so the app can't flip it for you.
2. Give the phone a minute to find the network. If nothing happens, turn airplane mode on for 30 seconds and off again.

Prefer a QR code? The checkout page and your confirmation email both carry one; scan it from your phone's settings. Every tap, by device, is in adding your eSIM on iPhone, adding your eSIM on Android, and adding your eSIM on Samsung, or watch the iPhone QR walkthrough or the Samsung QR walkthrough. Still no signal after landing? Work through the no-signal checklist.

Ben Gurion has a train to Tel Aviv in about half an hour and to Jerusalem in under half an hour, with the Rav-Kav card or the Moovit and HopOn apps carrying the fares; Gett is the taxi app, and the shared sheruts fill the gaps when the trains stop. Public transport pauses from Friday afternoon to Saturday evening for Shabbat, which is the practical fact that shapes a week here.

The shekel is the currency and cards work almost everywhere, including on the buses; a little cash covers the markets. Tel Aviv's beach, Carmel market, and Jaffa, and Jerusalem's Old City, the Western Wall, and Yad Vashem, are the first days, with timed entry online for the busiest sites.

Masada at dawn, the Dead Sea's float, and Ein Gedi's waterfalls are the classic day south from Jerusalem, by bus or rental car; the Negev beyond, with Mitzpe Ramon's crater and the desert lodges, is the road to Eilat. Cellcom's 4G holds along the highways and at the sites; the crater trails and the desert tracks drop out, and the Dead Sea's shore is where a neighboring country's network may show up on the phone.

Eilat's reefs and the Red Sea are the far south, a flight or a five-hour drive, and the Aqaba crossing into Jordan is a taxi ride from town; Petra and Wadi Rum are the reason most people cross. Jordan and Israel are both on the Middle East and North Africa plan, 15 countries on one plan that switches networks by itself at the crossing, and the Allenby and Sheikh Hussein crossings in the north work the same way. An Israel-only plan stops at the border. Read do I need a new plan for every country? for the detail.

Haifa's Bahá'í gardens, Akko's old city, the Sea of Galilee, and Nazareth are the north, linked by train and bus with 4G throughout; the Golan's hikes and the Upper Galilee's trails are the thin spots on every network. Safed's artists' quarter and the Rosh Hanikra grottoes on the Lebanese border round out a northern loop.

The Galilee's kibbutz guesthouses, the Golan's wineries, and the Jesus Trail from Nazareth to Capernaum are booked online and confirmed by message; the trail itself is a phone-in-pocket walk with 4G at the villages and gaps between.

Organizations sending staff to Israel issue their own guidance, which should be followed over anything on this page. For any visitor, two habits are useful: keep the plan on so the official alert app and the news reach you, and keep offline copies of documents and bookings in case service is disrupted. Plans keep counting through a disruption; nothing starts until you connect.

Your plan connects to Cellcom on 4G LTE. There is no 5G on this plan. Coverage is strong in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, Beersheba, and Eilat and along every highway, which in a country this size is nearly everywhere. Your phone picks the network automatically once the plan is on; there is nothing to choose by hand.

In the Negev's crater and desert tracks, the Golan's trails, and at the Dead Sea's shore where another country's network is closer, expect gaps or a wrong network on any plan. Save what you need in town.

Most phones sold since 2019 support eSIM, including iPhone XS and later and most Android flagships from the same window. Check yours before you add a plan; it takes a few seconds. On iPhone, go to Settings, General, About and look for an EID or Available SIM. On Android, go to Settings, Network & Internet, SIMs and look for an option to add an eSIM. On Samsung, dial *#06# and look for an EID.

Your phone also needs to be carrier-unlocked. If you're not sure, carrier-locked vs unlocked: how to tell shows you where to look.

Adding an Israel plan doesn't touch your regular SIM. Calls and texts on your usual number keep working exactly as before. The new plan handles data while you're there, and most phones run both at once without you doing anything else. Bank codes and two-factor texts still arrive on your home number, as long as that line stays switched on.

In this region the alternatives are a home-carrier roaming rate that is often eye-watering or not offered at all, a local SIM that means ID registration at a counter, or hotel Wi-Fi. An Israel plan added at home beats all three: one price agreed before you fly, live the second you land, and a Middle East and North Africa plan if the trip takes in more than one country.

Real travelers rate KnowRoaming 4.5 out of 5 on Reviews.io. More than a decade in travel connectivity, more than 200 destinations, and support that doesn't clock off: WhatsApp and live chat, any time, any day.

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