I have had a really nice exchange of information with Alon at Guided Tours Israel and wanted to give others the contact information in case you are interested in private touring in Israel. The website is http://www.guidedtoursisrael.com and there are contact forms there, or you can email info@guidedtoursisrael.com.

My husband and I were hoping to be able to combine a tour from Ashdod to both Masada and Jerusalem, but because of early closings on Fridays it didn't work out. Still, Alon gave it his best effort and was very patient with my many questions, so I thought I would do him the favor of posting contact information here.

Alon mentioned that he has small group tours, with six to 10 people, forming from the Voyager for Ashdod to Jerusalem and for Haifa to the Biblical north sites. The prices he quoted me were very reasonable. Feel free to message me privately if you want more information.

Editing to say that I can't get that link to work, but if you type in the address it works. Not enough of a techie to find a solution.