Spiritus at Belmont Israel Trip

• Departure from the United States.

• Arrive at Ben Gurion International Airport, with assistance from a Makor Educational Journeys representative.
• Ascend to Jerusalem
• Check-in to the hotel.
• Opening dinner and introduction to the program in a restaurant.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Travel to the Western Negev/Gaza Envelope.
• Continue to Sderot
• Geopolitical landscape – Look out from Sderot at the northern Gaza Strip.
• Drive through Sderot to see the town which has been the target of Hamas rocket attacks for nearly 20 years and see the new memorial at the site of the former, and subsequently demolished, Police Station, where a fierce battle with terrorists took place on October 7.
• Lunch on your own in Sderot.
• Guided walk through a Kibbutz that was attacked by Hamas on October 7.
• Visit the NOVA Festival site, where over 400 people were murdered, while others were taken hostage.
• Visit the Tekuma Car Cemetery, where many of the destroyed vehicles were brought after October 7.
• Return to Jerusalem, followed by dinner (possibly with US Ambassador)

• Breakfast at the hotel and check-out.
• Visit the United Hatzalah United Hatzalah is a volunteer-based emergency medical services organization providing free service throughout Israel.
• Proceed to North.
• Lunch on own en route.
• Explore the complex relationship between Jewish and pagan civilizations in the ancient Roman capital of Caesarea, a port city built on the Mediterranean Sea by Herod the Great, including a guided walk through the remains of the Roman Theater, Hippodrome, Promenade and Palace, continuing to the galleries and restaurants of the renovated Crusader city.
• Continue to the hotel for check-in.
• Dinner at the hotel.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• With today’s scholar-in-residence, Col. (Res.) Sarit Zehavi, CEO of Alma Research and Education Center, walk along the Banias (Hermon Stream), one of the headwaters of the Jordan River, for a discussion of Middle East hydro-politics.
• Drive along the Israeli Syrian border by jeep, with Colonel (Res.) Zehavi giving a geopolitical briefing en route, for a glimpse at the complex relationships that have formed in the Middle East, Europe and the United States.
• Ascend Mount Bental, overlooking Syria, to gain a better understanding of the events of Israel’s wars of 1967 and 1973 and the Golan Heights issues.
• Visit in the Druze village of Buq’ata and dialogue with communal leaders on their relationship with Israel and some of the joint projects taking place between the Druze community of the Golan and Jewish Israelis. Enjoy an authentic Druze lunch in the home of Naseeba Samara.
• (Possible wine tasting opportunity after lunch).
• At Mitzpe Gadot – Former Syrian bunkers on the Golan for an overview of the Hula Valley to appreciate the strategic value of the Golan Heights for Israelis.
• Return to the hotel
• Dinner at the hotel

• Breakfast at the hotel and check-out.
• Visit Christian holy sites around the Kinneret.
• Visit the Church of the Beatitudes, commemorating Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.
• The archaeological findings at Capernaum (Kfar Nachum) give testimony to the teachings of Jesus among his fellow Jews.
• Visit Tabgha, traditional site of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fish, site of a “Nile mosaic,” which depicts the feeding of loaves and fishes to the crowd who had come to hear Jesus.
• Lunch on own in Tiberias.
• Travel south along the Kinneret – the Sea of Galilee.
• Stop at Mount Scopus, overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem upon arrival in Jerusalem.
• Check-in to the hotel.
• Dinner at the hotel.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Enter the Old City for a guided visit through the Jewish and Christian Quarters, including part of the Via Dolorosa, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the Western Wall.
• Lunch on own.
• Masada & Dead Sea (Alternative: participant choice -at own expense for guide and vehicle- group trip day trip
• Dinner on own.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• The Memory of the Holocaust in Israeli Society Today, a presentation by Holocaust scholar Rachel Korazim, followed by a guided visit through Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center including:
  • The Holocaust History Museum
  • The Avenue of the Righteous
  • The Children’s Memorial
• Lunch on own in Machane Yehuda.
• Return to the hotel for rest and relaxation, and time for shopping.
• Late Check Out of the hotel.
• Dinner and Wrap-Up Conversation at a restaurant.
• Depart for Ben Gurion International Airport for return flight home.

Program is subject to change, pending confirmations.