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Funny- I just added both these names to my PNL last night! I prefer Ilan to Ilana, though I like both of them. Ilana seems to blend in with all the Eliana, Eliora, Liora, Leah, Ella...and so forth. It seems to fit right in with those names and isn't very distinctive. Ilan is, though. I love it.

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I do have the same concern as you do about the lack of Israeli background, and I'm not sure if it would work or not. But I think it would.

I think both names are a trifle too "pretty" for me.
Yes, I would think it was odd for someone to use the name who wasn't Israeli / Jewish, but if you like the names that much then I say go for it.

I'm not a fan of either name. My friend is named Ilana. She constantly has pronounciation problems with it. People usually say EYE-lahna or UH-lahna (like Alana), when it's EE-lahna.

Well you ask which is best but Ilan is a male name. Ilana is a female name. I think they are both fine names.

I have a friend Ilan (male) and he's not Jewish so I don't have that conection (I didn't know it was a Hebrew name).

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Ilana looks like Ileana (female for Ilija here) and I'd think it was a variation of that if I met someone with this name.

I tend to think it is, unless you are Jewish of course. There are many Israeli names that I love but would think twice about using. I would probably stay with a Biblical name.
However, I think Ilana looks and sounds sufficiently mainstream to be a feasible op[tion. I think Aliza and Aviva also fall into this category.