The last time I stayed in Tel Aviv was in 2008. So driving to the seafront from the airport, through the formerly sleepy tributaries of Jabotinsky, Arlosoroff and Ibn Gvirol, and seeing the sheer quantity of new residential and office buildings and the scale of gentrification of the older, inner-city neighbourhoods, was breathtaking.

Israel's president, Shimon Peres, who can turn a phrase or two, turned to his hosts with a huge smile.

"This," he declared, "is the Taj Mahal of the Negev."

Since the Taj Mahal is famously Shah Jehan's architectural declaration of love to his wife, the president might have exaggerated slightly.

The lawns are preternaturally green, the trees and shrubs luxuriant, the flowers sit prettily, ruffled by a breeze in the borders and beds dotted with artless informality all over the grounds.

I always love the feeling of voluntary solidarity with Israel which I experience when going through security with El Al. When the young man or woman says "There is a reason I am asking you these questions", tears spring to my eyes and I really have to stop myself from blurting "I know. I know it all. My life for you, Israel!" in case they think I'm a loony and stop me from boarding.

But this time I had been mucked about so much by the Fattal Hotel chain PR, that my brain was experiencing turbulence before I even set foot on the plane.

It is 10am and I am sitting on a hillside on the southwestern shore of Kinneret, puddles of sweat collecting on the ground below. I have been riding, with a friend, in the July heat for four hours. We are not sure where we are or how we are going to get down the hill. I ran out of water half an hour ago.

I am in the Galil to explore two short sections of the 85-mile bike trail that winds up, down and around the hills that surround Lake Kinneret, the lowest freshwater lake in the world.

While wine, womanly pursuits and song are not the most obvious reasons to visit Israel, the country is nevertheless becoming a fabulous holiday playground for hedonists.

Even those who thought they knew the country well may be surprised to find its vineyards are winning international prizes and opening up to visitors. And where there is wine, centres of well-being are never far away, particularly in the north, close to Israel's most noted spas and retreats offering numerous opportunities for New Age-style spiritual renewal.

Tel Aviv has been named one of the ten best beach cities in the world.

A National Geographic survey placed the Mediterranean coastal city on the list alongside Honolulu and Rio de Janeiro.

The magazine described the city, home to everything from a buzzing port, busy markets and sandy beaches, as “Miami Beach on the Med”

Although Tel Aviv was beaten to the top seaside spot by Barcelona, Israel was the only Middle Eastern country to make the list.

Families looking forward to Pesach in Israel may face heartbreak as a result of the proposed British Airways cabin crew strike.

BA has cancelled all flights to Israel this weekend and will not resume until Tuesday. However, the main travel time is the following weekend — March 26 - 28 .

Former United Synagogue property director Alan Koch was one of those whose Pesach plans could be ruined by the strike.

El Al has announced it is to operate three daily flights in each direction between Ben Gurion and Eilat, commencing in March.

The airline, which ceased direct flights between the UK and Eilat in 2007, is adding the internal flights to improve access to Israel’s Red Sea resort for visitors flying in to Israel from Britain and other, mainly European, destinations.

Lord Levy isn’t happy. Actually, that isn’t strictly accurate; sitting in warm sunshine, eating breakfast with his wife Gilda, in Bubbe’s, one of two breakfast venues at Eilat’s Royal Beach Hotel, the chairman of Jewish Care seems remarkably happy and relaxed, especially at the end of a year during which JFS (of which he is president) has been riven by seismic legal judgements, and in which he underwent emergency heart bypass surgery.

Around 150 passengers were given a champagne welcome when they flew into Eilat City airport on the inaugural Isrotel Sun Express flight from Luton on Sunday night.

The flight – the first of a programme running through the winter – was arranged by the UK-owned hotel chain to provide direct flights between London and the Red Sea Resort.

Rafi Sadeh, managing director of Isrotel said they had decided to provide the charter flights for those booking packages at their hotels to “keep the UK market alive”.

It’s midnight outside the Tel Aviv Cinematheque and the place is humming. The last cinema-goers have left but the open courtyard in front is suddenly a mass of wheels — bicycles and trollies, but most of all rollerskates.

EasyJet, the budget airline, has announced plans to fly to Israel with six flights a week between Luton and Tel Aviv, launching on November 2.

The Luton-based airline is offering single fares from £71.98 and return fares from £102.98, including all taxes. It will also cost £8 each way to check in a bag. Flights will depart daily, except Friday and have now been launched on the firm's website, where hotels are also on offer from £80 per night.

Andy Harrison, easyJet’s chief executive, described the launch as “a major breakthrough”.

As far as the eye can see, there is sand. Somewhere over the horizon to the south west, there is Egypt; Gaza is close by, too. But one can see no landmarks, no signposts.

And then you turn on your heel and you see familiar net-covered structures, signifying Israeli agri-tech. And right here, in the middle of this vast Negev nothingness, a group of people are growing food in the sand.

The Israel Government Tourist Office in London is once again under investigation by the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority for an advertisement promoting holidays to Israel.

The latest complaint is over a poster which features a map of Israel that includes the West Bank, Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights, beneath the slogan “Experience Israel”. The poster is part of a £40,000 IGTO Think.Israel campaign.

The complaint was lodged with the advertising watchdog last Friday by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

The Sheraton Hotel in Tiberias on the shores of Galilee has been given a special award by the Israel Tour Guides Association. The guides have given the hotel a Certificate of Appreciation for improving the image of Israel for tourists, and for the quality of service and the warmth of their welcome. Bookable through Israel specialist operators or with Sheraton (www.sheraton.co.il/english; 800 325 35353)

Hundreds of people stood in the sunshine last Friday at a special ceremony held to honour David Lewis, the British Jew who helped transform the formerly sleepy southern town of Eilat into the now thriving Israeli resort.

To mark his contribution, the town chose the 60th annual Eilat Day celebrations to name a new walkway the David Lewis Promenade.