Israel Journey | Israel travel, maps, plane tickets, deals, vacation packages, and what to see in Israel

Israel's choices are limited

Action soon?

Israel may very well attack Iran before fall of this year. They will likely choose surgical strikes against the laboratories, transportation and supply lines that support the nuclear enrichment programs. Nuclear weapons could be used, but only if it is determined that this is the only way to reach the underground labs—although this is unlikely.

The surgical strikes will also be directed against targets such as Iran’s petroleum industry, manufacturing plants, transportation network and military bases that would enable Iran to strike back at Israel.

While Iran’s ability to counterpunch would be mitigated, the rest of the Middle East would be whipped into a venomous frenzy of hatred. Their reaction would be based not only on the damage to Iran, but their concern that now that the gloves are off, they could be next.

Israel would be in greater danger than ever before and their response to outside attacks would be continuous and constantly escalating. America would almost certainly maintain a policy of dancing and dithering on the sidelines while trying to not step into the mud.

The Strait of Hormuz—through which 20 percent of the world’s supply of oil passes daily—would immediately be closed, with devastating economic results around the world. The price of food, fuel, staples and durable goods would go through the roof. The terrorist attacks on the western world could conceivably hamstring the airline industry and the list goes on and on.

The Obama administration does not have a policy that supports Israel in any way which leaves the tiny country, surrounded on all sides by rabid enemies, having no one to rely upon but themselves.

Tourism in Israel

Visiting the Holy Land

Israel’s greatest natural resources are its four Holy Cities, plethora of museums and sites of enormous historical and religious significance as well as the 67 National Parks and 190 Nature and Archeological Preserves. The Dead Sea is major attraction and the resorts are luxurious and beautiful.

These are only some of the reasons why tourism is one of Israel’s greatest sources of income. Incredibly, over 3.5 million tourists visited this tiny country in 2010. Many tourists come from the United States, France, Germany, Russia and the United Kingdom. Many are Jews who are making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land to connect with their heritage and others are people who simply want to visit the land where so many of Christianities most significant events occurred throughout history. Others come to sit by the Dead Sea in magnificent beach resorts while eco-tourists arrive to study Israel’s stewardship of its farmland and tour the incredible beauty of his parks and preserves. Israel is a major destination for archeologists who would require a lifetime to study all Israel has to offer.

In recent years, tourists have overwhelmingly visited the Western Wall (Wailing Wall) and the grave of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, in the greatest numbers.

The City of Jerusalem is the most visited location in Israel. Abrahamic religions-Judaism, Christianity and Islam all claim the city as their home.

Tel Aviv follows closely behind Jerusalem as a tourist destination. Tel Aviv is the financial center of Israel and the city recognized—as exemplified by the location of its embassies—by European countries as the Capital City. However, Jerusalem is still regarded as the capital of Israel by most of the region.

Tel Aviv is a city that offers vibrant night life with a myriad of clubs, restaurants of all ethnicities and theaters. It is referred to as the “city that never sleeps.”

When visiting Israel it is necessary to plan the trip carefully. While there is simply too much to see and do, you must try to at least hit some of the highpoints.

Israeli Breakfast: Come With a Hearty Appetite

Vegetable Salad for Breakfast?

Israelis generally tend to eat breakfast in the late morning. Years ago, Kibbutznikes, who were members of a kibbutz, or collective farm community, began work early in the morning to avoid as much sun as possible and stayed in the fields until late in the morning when their hunger drove them to the communal dining halls for breakfast.

Israeli breakfasts are huge, possibly because of the practice of Kibbutzniks waiting until their appetite was at its peak before eating.

In fact, over the years the burgeoning hotel industry in Israel has compensated for the lack of meat served at breakfast—the laws of kashrut require storing kosher meats away from other foods—by taking inspiration from the breakfasts eaten by the Kibbutznikes. They offer their guests huge servings of a variety of different and delicious foods. Breakfasts are generally served by restaurants throughout the day and Israelis love to eat them at all hours.

A typical breakfast in Israel is very large and consists of Turkish coffee, orange juice, fresh “Israeli” salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and spice herbs, hard cheeses, cream cheese, bread or toast, olives and fried eggs. Sometimes cereal, fish and other dairy products are also served. Unlike in England where you can order a full breakfast by asking for a “fry-up”, there is no particular name for an Israeli breakfast.

Many people plan a large breakfast for a weekend or holiday and take care to locate all of the different foods necessary for the full breakfast. It’s wise to set aside a good deal of time to prepare the various foods and even wiser to allocate even more time to enjoy it.

War in the Middle East

No More Comebacks

I am a common man faced with making a living on social security and a small pension. My retirement program was wiped out twice in my working life. My career was in the Supermarket industry and my first stock program took a tumble in the wake of the 1987 stock market crash. To add insult to injury, the company closed out in 1989. The second loss came in 1999 when the company for whom I worked went bankrupt.

My wife and I have adjusted to these circumstances and are doing fine today. However, I believe we are facing a confluence of events that make know the pins out from under us once again.

As I said to begin with, I am a common man, no better educated or informed than the next person. I am also occupied most of the time making ends meet just like everyone else.

May concern may seem somewhat exotic for someone like me, but I don’t believe so. I am concerned with the situation in the Middle East. Israel is currently genuinely afraid that Iran will pass the tipping point in the next few months in the development of a nuclear bomb. Couple this with the democratic administration’s tepid support of Israel and even more tepid imposition of economic sanctions against Iran—all the while maintaining the sanctions “just need more time to work.”

Israel is stating—not threatening, but clearly stating—that they will strike the nuclear development facilities in Iran very soon. In apparent contempt of the Obama administration they have also stated that the United States will not receive advance warning from Israel before the attacks take place.

I am aware that these issues may seem ridiculous for me to concern myself with since they are so far from my control. However, at my age and given my situation, my wife and I have no more “comebacks” we can count on.

The world is in as bad a shape as since I was growing up in the cold war. I pray that war does not break out between Israel and Iran.

The Thing

The Great Barrier Wall

The West Bank barrier is referred to as “The Thing” by its critics and as an effective deterrent to terrorist attacks by its supporters. It stretches along a 420 mile length along the “Green Line”—the demarcation line set out in the 1949 Armistice Agreement that separates Israel from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

The Barrier Wall is built on a concrete base and has an eight foot high wire and mesh structure with rolls of razor wire on top. The Barrier Wall has electronic sensors and a “trace road” where footprints show up clearly. Some areas have 13 foot high solid concrete walls to prevent snipers from shooting at motorists or pedestrians. The Wall is fitted with regularly spaced tall watchtowers.

Running alongside the Barrier Wall is a ditch that is over four feet deep that is designed to stop vehicles from breaching the Wall and crossing over.

Obviously, the wall is hotly contested both by all factions in the region and internationally. There is a huge political component to the existence of the wall where virtually everything that occurs has a huge political component. Court challenges abound both internationally and in Israel.

One of the biggest areas of contention is the fact that the Barrier Wall deviates from the Green Line to encompass the area captured by Israel in the Six-Day War of 1967.

The Israeli Gaza Strip barrier and the Wall separating Gaza from Egypt—now under Egyptian control—are just as hotly contested as the West Bank Barrier, or “The Thing” depending upon your sympathies.

Mother of Modern Israel

Prime Minister Golda Meir

Golda Meir was born Goldie Mabovitz on May 3^rd, 1898 in Kiev, Russia. She is an iconic figure in the history of the world and of Israel in particular. She is acknowledged as the Mother of Modern Israel. Few Americans know that Ms. Meir was an American citizen who taught in the Milwaukee Public Schools system.

She arrived in America with her family when she was eight years of age. As she grew into adulthood, Goldie Mabovitz became an active Zionist and a socialist who strongly believed in the self-determination of the Jewish people and the protection of its continued existence against all threats.

Goldie met her husband, Morris Myerson, in 1917 and convinced him to settle in Palestine in 1921. Goldie flourished on the brutally hard farm life and still found energy to become active in the Jewish women’s labor movement. She was away from home for long periods of time, traveling extensively, and leaving her family to their own devices. Eventually, Morris and Goldie divorced.

Goldie’s career skyrocketed and she held top positions in the World Zionist Agency and the Jewish Agency. She served two years in America as a representative in the Pioneer Women’s Organization and upon returning to Israel became the head of the political department at the Histadrut, Israel’s largest labor union.

During World War Two, she worked hard petitioning the British Colonial Government in Palestine to relax immigration laws and allow persecuted Jews in Europe access to Israel. The British Government was more interested in placating the majority Arab population and refused, sentencing Jews to death and continued persecution.

In 1948, after the United States declared the state of Israel, Ms. Myerson held a number of governmental posts and was active in the Labor party. In 1956 she changed her name to Golda Meir, a Hebrew form of Myerson.

As Prime Minister she advanced her Socialist policies and build infrastructure in Israel to encourage immigration.

Ms. Meir, along with the Defense Minister, Moshe Dyan was caught off-guard when Egypt and Syria attacked Israel. The United States and other Western Nations responded immediately and Israel emerged victorious in the Yom Kippur war.

Golda retired in 1974 and died four years later on December 8, 1978.

Most Sacred Place

The Wailing Wall

Visit the Western Wall as your first stop in Israel. Located in Jerusalem and commonly known as the Wailing Wall, it is the most sacred site for Jewish people. Jews visit the Wailing Wall to pray and many cry and wail for events or sorrows that are taking place in their lives. The Hebrew name for the Western Wall is Kotel, meaning the Wall.

The Western Wall or Kotel was built in 20 BC, a fact which staggers the imagination. The wall rests on the Temple Mount and it is huge. Standing over 62 feet tall above ground and almost that underground, the wall stretches for 1,600 feet.

It took 11 years to build and is constructed of larger bricks located lower on the wall and smaller ones from a different time period on top. The bricks were placed with laser-like precision and mortar was not used. The wall survived the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans who tore down the Temple adjacent to it.
Thousands of Jewish people can use the large open air plaza—at one time—in front of the Wall at day and night as a synagogue without walls. It is also used for events such as Bar Mitzvahs and religious ceremonies such as the ‘Tisha Be Av’ to fast and pray.

Jew also place small notes of thanks, written prayers and specific requests designed to fulfill their life or others. Many swear by the results these notes produce.

Visitors should observe the traditions of the Wailing Wall. Men and women pray at two different sections of the wall with men wearing a head cover and women dressing conservatively and modestly.

Israel and Unintended Consequences

Israel's Continued Survival

Once again, the world is subject to the consequences of conflict in the Middle East. At each point in history when this flashpoint is reached the stakes get higher and the damage potential becomes exponentially greater.

For the first time in history we are now faced with the very real possibility of nuclear weapons being used by either Israel or Iran, or both countries against each other. One thing that hasn’t changed is that the Middle East is a powder keg composed of many different factions vying for power with terrorist groups with limitless funds pulling many of the strings.

The destructive potential of the unintended consequences of any action taken is impossible to calculate. Pakistan is unstable and a hideout for terrorists who pray for the opportunity to push the button on a nuclear device in an American city. The government is weak, challenged on every side and in total disarray. The government of Pakistan also has nuclear weapons; how would they be used if nuclear conflict were initiated by one Middle Eastern country against another.

Israel is a solid ally—even though many believe the Obama administration has demonstrated weak support—of the United States and has been since it was established. It is reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has indicated military strikes are possible against sites in Iran where nuclear weapons are close to development. These target sites are reportedly hardened with up to 100-feet of concrete. Even so, they are thought to be susceptible to destruction by bunker-buster bombs by aerial attack from the Israeli Air Force. Also, the Jericho Two missile has a range of 1,500 miles and carries a payload that is adequate to the task of destroying the sites. The Israelis have enlisted Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as allies, at least to the point of being allowed to fly over and refuel over Saudi territory.

Back to unintended consequences; the list of possibilities is terrifying and includes the complete destabilization of the region resulting in ongoing, intensive and escalating armed conflict as well as major terrorist attacks on U.S. soil and a shortage of oil from a blockade in the Strait of Hormuz that could plunge the West into a financial abyss.

A lot to think about: Israel may possibly launch a strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities as early as the spring or summer of 2012.

Welcome to Israel Journey

Plan your next visit to Israel or share stories and news about the country. Click "Add a Post" to begin!