Skin Deep
By Liat Collins

While many people in the current situation prefer to stay at home under the covers, there are some Israelis who are "baring" up to it.
Perhaps for lack of other soft news, Israel's first official nudist beach, founded two years ago, has been getting some extra exposure in the media lately. Here are some of the bare facts:
The nudists have a small strip of beach on the northern part of the Dead Sea, next to the Attractzia Water Park at Kalia. The in joke among those who frequent it is that from a security viewpoint they are scared about traveling there but once at the beach they have nothing to fear.
"There isn't any way a suicide bomber can hide anything," jokes Anat Inbar, chairperson of the Israeli Naturist Society.
Local nudists prefer to be called naturists, according to Inbar, to escape the image of America in the swinging Sixsties. The (naked) truth is, naturists do not go in for wild sex or wife-swapping. In fact, they sound a rather conservative bunch. The larger meetings bring out some 70 to 100 people, most of them over 40 years old with the oldest member being 80. Minors are not allowed except accompanied by their parents.
So what got under their skin? "It's about going back to nature and the natural world and being what we really are." says Inbar, "When you take off your clothes, you shed the status symbols of urbanization."
They meet at weekends, at a hired indoor pool in winter or at the beach in summer. There are picnics and campfires, camping, and games of volleyball. The requisite attire for all activities is a birthday suit and a high factor sunscreen. The aim is to get away from it all, naturally. Of course, the security situation is discussed by members but Inbar says emotions don't run high: It's very difficult to be aggressive when you're naked."
There are also arguments about the nature of naturism: Whether to accept partial nudity, for instance, which the old-time ideologues oppose.
Skin-y people come in all shapes and sizes. The Israeli movement, which belongs to the International Naturist Federation, has a similar outlook to the European movement.
To join, you have to fill out a form on the web site (www.naturism.org.il) and be prepared to undress completely at your first meeting. This is a way to weed out the thrill seekers because the bottom line is: Local naturists are just a group of friends who get on well and accept each other - warts and all.