> I visited Israel circa 2012 and this was true even then.
It used to depend on where you were coming from. When travelling to Israel for work a few years back, my passport (irish citizen) was not stamped, but my colleague's (at the time, a Turkish citizen) was.
No idea, Israeli border security are weird. Like, for the first few times I went there, they treated my like a terrorist (i am concerned that someone may have placed bombs in your bag etc). The last two times, OTOH, it's just been like a normal airport.
sad to hear this, but not suprised as much. according to wikipedia, turkey is one of the few countries/regions where israel requires a visa from; along with india, pakistan and arab countries.