Apparently, to purchase a plane ticket from an office in Israel, using an Israeli travel Agent, you have to 1) be Israeli, 2) have an Israeli ID card (teudat zehut), and 3) pay with an Israeli credit card (though dollars are accepted if you are in person). I found this out after waiting for what seemed like 20 minutes of being on hold while this "music" that sounded like the buttons on a cell phone being depressed in some repetative cycle was playing really loud.

I am neither Israeli, nor am I in Israel, nor do I hold any Israeli ID card. So I could not purchase anything over the phone, and as I would not be getting in to Israel until about 10 days before I want to leave, I am kind of screwed.

So now I have to find a normal American travel agent who can issue me a ticket from Tel Aviv to Berlin from the US. That should not be too hard.

Boy are they pains in the ass.