Israel has no malaria. Its summer mosquito issue is West Nile.

Yes, and in summer they matter. Israel's Culex mosquitoes spread West Nile virus, endemic there since 1951, and 2024 brought the largest outbreak on record, centered on central Israel and Tel Aviv. There is no malaria or dengue, bites tend to be rare from November to April, and the other biter to know is the sand fly, which spreads a skin infection in the desert south and the Galilee.

West Nile: an evening habit for summer

West Nile cases in Israel usually run from June to October and peak in August, according to a 2024 Eurosurveillance report. The 2024 season started unusually early, after a hot spring. By June 30, 125 cases had been diagnosed, against an average of 4 in June over 2014–2023, and all of them lived in central Israel. For the full year, Ministry of Health virology laboratory researchers counted 934 cases, and a Rabin Medical Center study counted about 72 deaths.

Since then the numbers have been far smaller. Press coverage described 2025 as quiet, with only a handful of cases. In 2026 the first case, a Tel Aviv resident, was announced on July 16. By about August 19, press reports citing the Health and Environmental Protection ministries counted 17 cases and at least one death, and infected mosquitoes had turned up at Ben Gurion Airport and elsewhere in central and southern Israel.

Culex mosquitoes bite mostly in the evening and at night. From June to October, put picaridin 20%, DEET 20–30% or oil of lemon eucalyptus 30% on exposed skin before an evening on the Tel Aviv promenade or a terrace dinner on the coastal plain, and sleep in an air-conditioned room with screens. Older travelers and anyone with a weakened immune system face the highest risk of severe illness. Forum posters tend to call Tel Aviv's biting mild, and some blame beach bites on midges, which our sand fly guide explains.

Sand flies in the desert and the Galilee

The CDC's Israel page lists leishmaniasis, spread by sand fly bites. A nationwide study counted 4,168 cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis from 2017 to 2022, about 700 a year. Of those, 84% were Leishmania major, endemic in the Negev and the Arava in the south, and 14% were Leishmania tropica, found in central Israel east of Tel Aviv and in the Galilee. Researchers have also found new urban foci in Tiberias, Yeruham and Ofakim.

Sand flies bite from dusk to dawn and tend to be a warm-season problem. For hikers, desert campers and anyone sleeping at the Dead Sea or in the Galilee, the risk on a short stay tends to be low, though not zero. Cover up after dark, sleep in a screened, air-conditioned room and treat clothes with permethrin for a desert camp.

When to go

November to April is the easy half of the year, with West Nile essentially absent and mosquito bites tending to be rare in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The season usually starts in June, earlier after a hot spring such as 2024's. July to September is the hardest stretch, peaking in August, and October is the tail end.

Where you're going

How the main stops compare.

Adding Egypt? Our Egypt briefing covers the Nile and the Red Sea.

What travelers report

Paraphrased from a TripAdvisor thread and linked so you can read it in full. It isn't dated, and bites on the Tel Aviv beach depend on the month and the hour.

• Tel Aviv beach · night

  A visitor asked about bites after sitting on the beach at night. A reply said they were most likely from Culex mosquitoes, harmless apart from the itch, and judged the chance of leishmaniasis to be close to zero. TripAdvisor ↗

Two last notes. The CDC's Level 2 Global Polio notice, updated September 23, 2026, lists Israel, and the CDC advises being up to date on polio vaccination before any international trip. And any fever during or after your trip means a doctor visit, and you tell them you were in Israel. That includes a fever with headache or confusion after a summer trip, and a skin sore that hasn't healed weeks later.

Traveler questions