Israeli Tourist Boom in Sri Lanka's Arugam Bay Stirs Local Unease

The Diplomat

6 days ago

Colombo has been slow to crack down on unruly Israelis as it fears punitive action from the U.S. and other Western countries that could adversely hit tourist arrivals.
A few weeks ago, Australian DJ Tom Monagle filmed a walk-through of Arugam Bay, a popular surfing destination in Sri Lanka's Eastern Province. Walking through the tourist town, Monagle pointed at Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) stickers on walls, and Hebrew signboards outnumbering those in Sinhala, Tamil, and English, and wondered aloud whether he was in Tel Aviv.
Mongle's clip went viral in Sri Lanka because it mirrored a growing unease among many Sri Lankans about what was happening in the country's east coast: a visible and growing Israeli footprint, and a sense that some visitors are not just holidaying but operating outside the rules.
Tourism is one of the key foreign revenue generators for Sri Lanka. The country earned over $1.7 billion from tourism in the first half of 2025, and the government expects that this year, earnings from tourism will be their highest ever. However, while most Sri Lankans understand the importance of a vibrant tourist sector, there is a growing unease among Sri Lankans about the behavior and activities of tourists from certain countries, especially Israelis.
Since Sri Lanka reopened its borders to tourists in 2022, the number of tourists from Israel has risen rapidly. There were 19,517 arrivals in 2023, 24,845 in 2024, and 13,014 by the end of July 2025. Given that most tourists arrive in the latter months of the year, it is likely that this year, Sri Lanka will see its highest number of tourists from Israel.
Most Israelis gravitate to surf towns in the island's south and east, especially Arugam Bay.
The increase in Israeli tourists can be traced to the efforts of Presidents Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Ranil Wickremesinghe. As Sri Lankan journalist Hassaan Shazuli highlights in a recent Substack post, in early 2022, the Rajapaksa administration assisted an Israeli film crew to shoot a movie titled 'Arugam Bay.' According to promotional material for the movie, 'the story of a group of childhood friends from Israel, all surfers in the same commando unit in the Israeli army, who visit Sri Lanka to heal from a traumatic experience.'
Wickremesinghe's administration kept channels open and his ministers in charge of tourism and foreign employment pushed for closer ties with Israel.
Within a year following the rapid influx of Israelis, Sri Lankan journalists reported that some of the Israeli tourists had started running illegal businesses, especially in Arugam Bay. In June 2023, the Sunday Times reported that 'a whole bunch of new school people who set up surf schools, photography schools, yoga schools and so on, which are unregulated,' and that in the South 'even legitimate Israeli businesses bring down Israeli workers on tourist visas to construct their buildings.'
Things have decidedly taken a turn for the worse since Israel's military offensives in Gaza in October 2023. Tension between Israeli tourists and businesses and Muslims in Arugam Bay has increased. In late 2024, the United States issued a travel advisory against Sri Lanka over alleged threats to Israelis in the country. The U.S. embassy in Colombo said they have 'credible information warning of an attack targeting popular tourist locations in the Arugam Bay area.' The Sri Lankan government arrested three people following these reports, but insisted that there was no concrete evidence against those who have been arrested. A few months later Sri Lankan authorities arrested a young man for pasting pro-Palestinian stickers. He was released recently and the police have admitted that they had 'found no evidence' against the young man. Despite the growing tensions, Sri Lanka has allowed visa-free travel to Israeli tourists in recent weeks.
Monagle's TikTok went viral at a time when growing numbers of Sri Lankans were uneasy not only about Israel's actions in Gaza, but also about the rising presence of Israelis in their country. Concerns were heightened by the activities of certain fringe groups supporting Israel and fears that mounting anger over these issues could escalate into a national security threat. There is also speculation that the National People's Power (NPP,) a staunch pro-Palestinian political entity, is under pressure from the United States to take action against any anti-Zionist sentiments in Sri Lanka.
This unease over Israeli tourists is not a sentiment unique to Sri Lankans. In India, the so-called Hummus Trail routes ex-soldiers through Kasol, Goa, and Himachal Pradesh for months of low-cost, high-freedom living. Documentaries and reporting there have chronicled drug use, psychotic flip-outs, and the role of Chabad and Israeli rescue outfits in retrieving travelers who get themselves into precarious situations. Visa overstays, unlicensed nightlife, and scuffles with pro-Palestinian locals seem to be an increasing phenomenon associated with Israeli tourists.
So why is Sri Lanka slow to crack down? American support for Israel underlies the Sri Lankan government's reluctance to rein in the Israeli tourists.
Israel's leverage runs through Washington. Any forceful, public action against Israeli visitors would trigger blowback beyond Jerusalem.
U.S. travel advisories are usually repeated by other western countries. These could devastate tourist bookings in peak season. The U.S. could also increase tariffs on Sri Lankan exports. U.S. President Donald Trump warned Canada, a close ally and a member of the Five Eyes, not to extend recognition to a Palestinian state as that would adversely affect trade negotiations. One doesn't have to accept his stated rationale to grasp the risk. Sri Lanka needs tourism receipts and export growth; discretionary shocks hurt.
The opposition political parties criticized the government's alleged tilt toward Israel, pointing to visa-free entry for Israeli tourists as proof that the traditionally pro-Palestinian National People's Power (NPP) has changed its stance. But the same opposition would likely hit the streets if firm action on Israeli tourists sparked a U.S. tariff snapback or a slump in arrivals. The government is squeezed between values (nonalignment, empathy for Palestinians) and vulnerabilities (dollars, debt, and jobs). In that gap, symbolism often beats substance and enforcement gets deferred.
There are several procedural practices the state can implement to minimize public anger and reduce illegal activities by foreigners. However, given who is backing Israel and Sri Lanka's extreme dependence on the U.S. market, in the short term, there is little that can be done against the IDF stickers on walls, Israeli businesses that have crowded out the others, or religious structures Israelis have built. There is also nothing the government can do to reduce the anger of Muslims, especially those who live in the east.
In the end, Sri Lanka's dilemma over the surge in Israeli tourism is less about a single nationality and more about the structural vulnerabilities that limit the country's room for maneuver. Sri Lanka has been suffering from balance of payment issues for decades, and these issues have only grown following the dismantling of the country's industrial base since the late 1970s. Successive governments have promoted services and encouraged Sri Lankans to seek employment in other countries. While tourism and remittances help keep the country's economy afloat, they also make Sri Lanka highly dependent on volatile markets and actors. In the long run, only a more resilient economy, less dependent on volatile external flows, will give Sri Lanka the freedom to set and enforce its own red lines without fear of economic or political blowback.