Israel's Red Sea Resort — the duty-free port city at the tip of the Negev desert where Israel, Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia meet at the Gulf of Aqaba, the coral reefs begin 20 metres from the beach, and the desert mountains behind the city glow red at sunset
Eilat is Israel's southernmost city — a resort town and free-trade port at the northern tip of the Red Sea (Gulf of Aqaba) where Israel's tiny coastline (about 11 km) meets Jordan, Egypt, and the distant Saudi Arabian coast. The city exists primarily as Israel's sun-and-sea resort, with most Israeli domestic tourism driven by its warm winters (average 21°C in January), its duty-free shopping status, and its coral reefs. The Coral Beach Nature Reserve protects the northern end of a reef system extending south into the Red Sea; hard and soft corals begin within 20 metres of the shoreline. Glass…
Eilat's site corresponds to the ancient Hebrew city of Elath (or Ezion-Geber) mentioned in the Hebrew Bible — the port from which King Solomon sent ships to Ophir (identified as modern Yemen or Somalia) for gold and exotic goods. The site passed through Edomite, Nabataean, Roman, Byzantine, Arab, Crusader (as Ayla/Aqaba, shared with modern Jordan), Mamluk, and Ottoman control over the centuries. Modern Eilat was established after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, when Israeli forces (Operation Uvda) reached the Gulf of Aqaba and planted a hand-drawn Israeli flag at the fishing village of Umm Rashras…