Cost of Living in Palestine: For those who are visiting Palestine, Israel or the Excellence Center in the city of Hebron, for the first time, it must be important to estimate the cost of living in the West Bank. Here at the Excellence Center, it depends on whether you will stay with a host family or at our dormitory.
Foreign visitors who choose to stay with a Palestinian host family are usually provided with meals when they are at home, including after work and at weekends. Those who choose the Excellence Center dormitory, which is another housing option, can use cooking facilities and easily find inexpensive grocery stores nearby.
The exciting thing is that all internationals can look forward to receiving a few dinner invitations from locals on weekdays. Moreover, visitors to Palestine staying with a host family often invite their friends from the Excellence Center to their home and eat together.
So, how much does it cost once you have arranged your placement and found your way at the Excellence Center? Below we will briefly explain about expenses for meals, daily necessities, transportation and leisure activities in the city of Hebron, West Bank, Palestine as well as give you some advice.
Meal Costs
The average cost of food in Hebron, West Bank per week ranges from 30 to 80 shekels, again, largely depending on whether or not you stay with a host family. The breakdown of that will be as follows.
- 3-5 shekels per lunch (You can buy a delicious falafel, chips & salad sandwich for only 3 shekels in Hebron!)
- 5-10 shekels per evening meal if you live in a dormitory or hostel
- a free evening meal or lunch on Friday if you are staying with a host family
Cost of Other Necessities
We recommend that you bring daily necessities such as soap, toiletries and razors from your own country. Although you can buy them at a supermarket in Hebron as well, good quality products will not be cheaper than in your home country and your favorite brand may be more expensive.
Transportation Expenses
You can save on transportation costs if you live within walking distance of the center, otherwise it will cost about 14-28 shekels per week, assuming you use a shared taxi. Shared taxi is a small van transportation for a maximum of 7 passengers.
There is no timetable. The shared taxi will depart when 7 seats are full.
The fare is fixed depending on the destination. However, if the shared taxi departs with fewer than 6 passengers, they’ll have to pay for the vacant seat.
How to use a shared taxi:
- Go to the bus terminal (this is where the taxis depart from)
- Tell the drivers where you wish to go, they will tell you which shared taxi to take.
- Get into the taxi, it will depart once full. It is possible to leave before the seats are all taken but the passengers will have to cover the cost of the empty seats.
- Ask the driver or your fellow passengers about the fare for the journey when you enter the taxi. The driver will usually ask for payment along the journey, passengers pass their money to the driver and any change due will be passed back.
- Passengers usually disembark from the taxi at a terminal or designated parking place. If you wish to be dropped off at a different point along the way, you can ask the driver to do so.
Free Time
As for non-essential costs, coffee and cake in a café are around 8 shekels. A meal in a nice restaurant costs around 30-40 shekels. If you want to visit various places in your free time, it will cost more for a taxi.
A barber charges 20 shekels for a man’s haircut. The gym or swimming pool at Hebron University is a great place to get some exercise, which costs 50 shekels for one session as a guest.
Minimum Monthly Cost of Living in Palestine
To sum up, you can estimate that the minimum cost of living in Palestine will be no more than around 500 shekels ($150) per month if you are conserving your money. You can cut even more costs if you stay with a host family and within walking distance of the Center. It is possible to live comfortably on a limited budget.
Additional Information: Public Transportation in Palestine
Palestine does not have a train or bus service so the only way of transportation here is a private or shared taxi. Intercity shared taxi services are relatively convenient, so you don’t need to worry about it. Many cabs leave the central bus stations frequently. Prices for shared taxi service from Hebron are as follows:
- Ramallah – 27 shekels per person
- Nablus (via Ramallah) – 50 shekels
- Bethlehem – 10 shekels
- Jerusalem – 25 shekels
- Jericho – 50 shekels
Cost of living in Israel compared to the West Bank
Israel is quite expensive. General living expenses for an international student per month are approximately 7,000 NIS (1500 US$).
It is 2 to 3 times more expensive than living in the West Bank. Room rent per week, bus fare, meals, coffee are double the price or even more than Hebron. E.g A falafel sandwich in Israel costs around 20 NIS (around 5$), a A falafel sandwich in Hebron costs 3 NIS (1$). Salaries and wages in Israel are double that of the West Bank and the standard of living is much higher in Israel than Palestine.
Additional Information: Public Transportation in Israel
Coach travel is an affordable and efficient method of transport in Israel. Each bus route with its fare and some time estimations are as follows:
| Route | Fare | Time |
| Tel Aviv airport – Hebron | 24.2 USD (80 ILS) | |
| Tel-Aviv – Haifa (bus 26) | 9.0 USD (30 ILS) | |
| Haifa – Nazareth (bus 331) | 5.2 USD (17.2 ILS) | |
| Haifa – Yardenit (bus 431) | 5.8 USD (19 ILS) | 1 hour |
| Tiberias – Jerusalem (bus 961) | 12.1 USD (40 ILS) | 2.5 hours |
| Jerusalem – Ein Gedi nature reserve | 10.9 USD (36 ILS) | 1.5 hours |
| Ein Gedi (dead sea) – Eilat | 13.6 USD (45 ILS) | 3 hours |
| Ein Gedi – Masada | 6.0 USD (20 ILS) |
Souvenirs and sight-seeing
Other things you may wish to spend money on are souvenirs and entrance tickets to popular tourist spots. Depending on the taste of your friends/family, there are a variety of things you can buy cheaply in Hebron that would make nice gifts,such as dates, ornaments, pottery, glassware, clothing, scarves, bags, accessories and prayer mats.
Hebron is home to the Hirbawi textile factory- the last remaining factory to produce keffiyehs in Palestine. You can also find pottery and glassware factories in Hebron, you may even be lucky enough to see some items being made right in front of you. It is very interesting to see the craftsmen at work.
Bethlehem is home to several religious sites e.g. Church of the Nativity as well as The Walled Off Hotel, refugee camps, gift shops etc. There are lots of items crafted from olive wood which are popular gifts.
Jerusalem is well worth a visit. It features Al Aqsa mosque and other important religious sites, the old city, markets and cafes.
Ramallah has several points of interests including the Yasser Arafat Museum, Centre for Palestinian Teaditional Art, Addameer Human Rights Centre and a busy city centre.
Nablus is probably most famous for producing olive oil and soap. It also has churches, mosques, Turkish baths, lively markets, some tanneries, potteries and textile workshops. Nablus is also well known for kunafeh- so it is the perfect place to sample this sweet dish.
Jericho is the oldest city in the world. It is also the lowest city in the world,258 meters below sea level. There are many ancient ruins to discover as well as beautiful natural scenery.
There are lots of places to visit in Palestine. The Excellence Center can provide information about the places you may wish to visit and assist you in making arrangements. The cost of these excursions vary depending on what you want to do and how much you choose to spend. You can visit most places for a reasonable price. Some places have entrance fees and different activities suit different budgets but it is certainly possible to explore Palestine at relatively little expense.
Final remarks
The cost of living in Palestine varies and depends mainly on which city in Palestine. E.g Ramallah tends to be more expensive than Hebron. You will find that some items are cheaper than in your country of origin and while others are more expensive. If you want to try to save money, it is possible to live, eat and travel at a low expense and in basic comfort. You might even find that you have more interesting experiences this way. However if you want a higher level of luxury and some home comforts, this will cost a little more. Whatever you choose, you are guaranteed a warm welcome and a great experience here at the Excellence Center and throughout the West Bank, Palestine.
It is also worth mentioning that living in Israel is much more expensive than living in any city of the West Bank. If you are travelling to both Palestine and Israel take this point into consideration.
NB: at the time of writing, The exchange rate is 4.5 shekels ＝1.00 UK pound, 4 Shekels ＝ 1.00 Euro and 3.3 shekels ＝ 1.00 US dollar.
Any questions?
Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact at Rafat@excellencenter.org
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