Israel Uncovered: Unusual Places to Visit in Israel
by Israel HighWay Staff

Everyone who comes to Israel knows that there are many incredible historic and important sites to see. The Western Wall, Masada, Caesarea and Yad Vashem are all well known and popular sites. But Israel also offers a vast array of other interesting and fun tourist destinations. From amazing adventure vacations to quirky hotels and hostels, and even a one-man country within the country, there are exciting and out of the ordinary attractions from Metulla in the North to Eilat in the South. No matter your interest - whether you love to ski or scuba dive - Israel has what you need to make a great vacation.

Here are a few ideas to make your next visit extraordinarily memorable.

Issue of the Week is continued below

Israeli Works Did Not Damage Temple Mount, UN Says
by Lilach Shoval

Israeli works near the Temple Mount did not cause damage to the historic site, a UNESCO report published Wednesday states. However, the UN organization recommends that the excavations at the place be suspended in order to allow for international monitors to arrive in Jerusalem and supervise the project. In the report, which was obtained by Ynet, UNESCO experts laud Israel for the transparency with which the works were being carried out, and note that the excavations conducted near the Temple Mount compound do not jeopardize its stability. (YNet News)

UNESCO released its report (pdf format) on the Mughrabi Gate dig.

Vice President Expresses "Devotion" to Israel at AIPAC Conference by Dick Cheney

We're here today as citizens from different parts of the country, diverse backgrounds, many professions and various political affiliations. Yet we find unity and strength in the values of liberty and equality and our belief in democracy and the rule of law and in our devotion to the security of America's friend, the state of Israel. The President asked me to convey his strong support for Israel and his firm commitment to peace in the Holy Land, built on a foundation of security, not surrender.

The President has been clear and forthright about his vision of two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace. He remains committed to the achievement of that vision, nor has he compromised the basic principles he has stated from the very beginning: Peace requires a Palestinian government that recognizes Israel's right to exist, accepts the validity of past agreements and renounces violence and terrorism totally and completely. (The White House)

A Model Israeli Citizen by Jessica Steinberg

Mamo, 23, is Israel's first Ethiopian-Israeli model. And after several years on the Israeli modeling circuit, she has high hopes for strutting on the global catwalk. Mamo came to Israel with her family on Operation Solomon, the 1991 airlift of Ethiopian Jews. Originally from Chila, a small farming village in Ethiopia, her family spent two years in the Ethiopian capital city of Addis Ababa before leaving when Mamo was nine years old. "I feel that given my work, I can present myself as an example, as an Ethiopian and an Israeli and a Jew, and offer pride and satisfaction in who I am." (Israel 21c)

YALP for Help in the Classroom by Annabel Stafford

The Yachad Accelerated Learning Project (YALP) is in action at the Mooroopna Primary School, near Shepparton, Australia. The three-year pilot program - which is also operating in four other sites across the country - is designed to help Aboriginal students who are falling behind. The program draws on teaching methods developed in Israel for immigrant groups such as the Ethiopian Jews who went to Israel during the humanitarian program of the 1980s and 1990s. After airlifting 35,000 Ethiopian Jews out of Africa, Israel was faced with the problem of trying to rapidly absorb the immigrants, many of whom had lived a subsistence lifestyle. Among other measures, accelerated learning programs were developed, which were so successful that they have since been exported across the world. (The Age - Australia)

Lone Soldiers Are Remembered from Afar by Gill Hoffman

Israeli reserve soldiers took a break from their operation on Purim to accept the delivery of an important shipment of fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies, brownies, hamantaschen, candy, and wine provided in part by the Women’s Campaign of the Jewish Federation of Central New Jersey. The women sent 69 $18 packages to the soldiers via Gili’s Goodies, an Efrat-based bakery that bundles care packages for Israeli soldiers. Many of the young men and women stationed at the base are "hayalim bodedim" - "lone soldiers" whose parents do not live in the country - so Gili's Goodies' David Ehrlich decided to augment the shipment from Central New Jersey with other donations to reach as many lone soldiers as possible.

"I have no words to describe their emotions when they saw that Jews so far away thought about them and sent them these packages," said Colonel Ben-Zion Gruber, commander of the of the 14th tank brigade of the Israel Defense Forces. "This proves that in the end we really are one nation." (New Jersey Jewish News Online)

Event to Show Support for Israel by Gary McLendon

In a first for the Rochester region, local Christian and Jewish communities are joining forces to celebrate the creation and continued existence of the nation of Israel. The event coincides with similar national nights to honor Israel in communities across the country. Ron Domina, who is leading the local organization effort, says it's important to support Israel "because of the growing opposition to Israel throughout the world, the misunderstanding of its heritage and even its right to the land, (and) to the nation."

Watch John Hagee, a Zionist Christian Minister, at the AIPAC Policy Conference. (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)

I'm a Proud Member of the "Jewish Lobby" by Eve Samborn

Nothing I advocated for recently in Washington, as part of my trip with JUF’s Jewish Community Relations Council, was particularly controversial. Then why was it so important that I go?

I firmly believe that the secure position of American Jewry today is largely thanks to the existence of the State of Israel. A person or nation can only be dependent on the hospitality of others for so long; only with a homeland of our own can we feel truly safe in American society. Furthermore, Israel has provided us with a rallying point, a reason to be more assertive in political affairs. But just as the Jewish state may have increased the political influence of American Jewry, that political influence has sustained Israel. With virulent enemies worldwide, there is no need to explain why U.S. support of Israel is critical.

When I told him about the trip, a non-Jewish friend asked jokingly, "So you’re part of the Jewish lobby now, huh?" "Yes," I replied slowly, "I guess I am." That is a statement I know I can be proud of.

Eve Samborn is a senior at Glenbrook South High School and a Senior Fellow of Write On for Israel. Along with students Sarah Sechan and David Medansky, she participated in a daylong advocacy "Fly-In" in Washington DC organized by JUF’s Jewish Community Relations Council. (Chicago Jewish Community Online)

MASA Media Mission 2007 by Libby Ellis

With a soldier who also is a farmer in the Upper Galilee region, we traveled the back roads up to the Yakinton outpost on the northern border. While we were driving, he explained that a few months ago we never would have been allowed on the road.

Before reaching the base, we visited the spot where three Israeli soldiers were kidnapped. I spoke with a man who lives in the area. He saw me looking at the flag and taking a picture of the wild Jerusalem flowers growing beneath it and pressed a piece of metal punctured with bullet holes into my hand. He said something like, "for you" and I felt as if he wanted me to bring it back and show people. As we continued up the road to the base, we passed soldiers driving in a Hummer similar to the one that was ambushed. They waved and seemed at ease.

Continue reading Libby's blog for more insider looks at a first trip to Israel. (JUF News Report/Chicago Jewish Community Online)

Young Jews with Asperger’s Go on Tailor-Made Birthright Trip
by Dina Kraft and Wendy Margolin

Seventeen participants toured Israel on birthright israel's first-ever trip for people with Asperger's syndrome. The neurobiological disorder is considered the highest functioning type of autism. Birthright provides free 10-day trips for Jews between the ages of 18 to 26 who have never visited Israel on an organized tour. Groups usually have two staff members for every 40 participants, but the Asperger’s group traveled with five staff members. The counselors helped the participants with tasks such as packing suitcases and social nuances. This trip exemplified what birthright represents: attempting to provide all Jewish students with an Israel experience. Everyone, regardless of their status, should be able to visit Israel," said one counselor, Brandeis University student Ari Gleicher, of Skokie. (Chicago Jewish Community Online)

U.S. Students Volunteer in Battered North by Hagai Einav

This year 120 Jewish students opted to help rehabilitate Israel's north after the war in Lebanon during their semester break, planting trees and fixing up bomb shelters in a volunteer program organized by the Jewish National Fund and the Alternative Spring Break project. The group was joined by an MTV television crew producing a series on American youth spending their vacations volunteering around the world. (Ynet News)

View JNF's Alternative Spring Break Blog

Skat, Peles Win at Israel Music Awards by Sasha Levy

Hed Arzi-signed singers Harel Skat and Keren Peles (pictured) were the big winners at the third annual Israel Music Awards (AMI) ceremony, held March 8 at Tel Aviv's Club 24. Skat won for song of the year with Keren Peles' "And You." In an innovative move, the category was decided on the night by viewers, who voted via text messages. Skat also took best singer, while Peles collected the best newcomer award. Hed Arzi act Synergia picked up the best group going. (Santa Barbara News-Press)

Listen to Keren Peles. Watch their duet.

Games We Play: Tagliabue Endorses New Israel Football League
by David Machlis

Former National Football League commissioner Paul Tagliabue (pictured) capped his first visit to Israel by giving his personal blessing to Israel's first fully-equipped tackle football league, which was officially announced at Kraft Family Stadium in Jerusalem on Thursday night. "If you build it, they will come," said American Football in Israel president Steve Leibowitz as he announced the new Israel Football League to dozens of players and guests. (Jerusalem Post)

The Price of a Free Press by Anshel Pfeffer

"The Israeli-Hizbullah War of 2006: The Media as a Weapon in Asymmetrical Conflict" by veteran reporter, author and broadcaster Marvin Kalb is a must-read.

Kalb writes that democratic societies living by the ideals of a free and unfettered press will always be at a disadvantage to dictatorships and oppressive ideologies, adept at manipulating the media. "A closed society conveys the impression of order and discipline; an open society, buffeted by the crosswinds of reality and rumor, criticism and revelation, conveys the impression of disorder, chaos and uncertainty."

Israel's campaign was remarkably transparent. Even openly hostile Arab TV networks, such as Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya, were allowed to operate in almost total freedom and film IDF units preparing for battle. Every failure and mishap on the battlefield - and relative chaos on the home front - was highlighted. On the other side, Hizbullah controlled the journalists covering Lebanon with an iron fist. Media tours of Hizbullah-controlled areas were tightly managed, with foreign reporters sternly warned against wandering off and talking to local residents unsupervised. (Jerusalem Post)

The Trouble with the Apartheid Analogy by Joel Pollack

Is Israel an apartheid state? Apparently Nelson Mandela thinks so. In a recent letter to New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, Mandela lays out the case against Israel with unusual candor. Mandela’s words are now being quoted all over the world. Unfortunately for Israel’s critics, the letter is a hoax. It is the creation of a man named Arjan El Fassed, who runs an anti-Israel website called The Electronic Intifada.

Opponents of Israel have persisted in their use of the Israel-apartheid analogy. Why? Benjamin Pogrund, former deputy editor of the Rand Daily Mail, provides an answer: "Apartheid … comes easily to hand. If it can be made to stick, then Israel can be made to appear to be as vile as was apartheid SA and seeking its destruction can be presented to the world as an equally moral cause."

The continued refusal by Palestinian leaders to stop terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians has created the need for Israel’s checkpoints. Security, not domination, is the reason. The situation could have been different had Palestinian leaders chosen to negotiate a final agreement instead of launching a new intifada in 2000.

Joel Pollack is a student at Harvard Law School. (Business Day - South Africa)