I need to travel to Tel Aviv from Europe this October. I have some leeway with respect to my departure point in Europe: London, Vienna, Budapest, possibly Istanbul? Any idea which are the best (cheapest) European departure points for Israel?
Best thing to do is go to whichbudget.com and flylc.com, then look for flights from Tel Aviv back to those cities you mention, to see which have the best schedules and cheapest flights. Then you can book through those airlines' websites in the reverse direction.
Check with low-cost carrier TUIfly.com. They fly to Tel Aviv from several German cities starting from €39 one-way...
Someone already mentioned WhichBudget, but here is a direct link:
http://www.whichbudget.com/en/cheapflights.php?to=TLV
There are flights to Tel Aviv from both London and Budapest.
Try Arkia airlines based in Israel - I flew them last week from TLV to LCA. They aren't extremely cheap but check them out and compare them to other budget carriers that fly to Israel. Arkia flies to a number of European destinations.