We have just returned
from what has been heralded as one of the
best-organized, most informative visits to Israel. We
spent four days in the north—Galilee and the Golan
Heights—and then five days in and around Jerusalem. Our
visits included being hosted during flight operations at
the Ramat David Air Force Base, which lies at the foot
of Mount Megiddo in the Valley of Jezreel, as well as a
volunteer day with the 603rd Engineering
Battalion in the Golan.
What made this trip
particularly distinctive were the special briefings we
received by many senior officials of the Israel Defense
Forces and the intelligence community. These included:
-
Dr. Shmuel Bar, Director of Studies
at the Institute of Policy and Strategy;
-
Major General Uzi Dayan, formerly on
Israel’s Security Council;
-
David Hacham, Advisor to the
Ministry of Defense on Arab Affairs;
-
Mark Regev, spokesman for the
Foreign Ministry;
-
Major General Shaul Kamisa, who
served for over 20 years as Chief Intelligence
Officer on Lebanon and who currently serves as the
Mayor of Hatzor, one of the centers of the recent
rocket attacks; and
-
Brigadier General Shaul Mofaz,
Deputy Prime Minister, who formerly has served as
Chief of the General Staff and Minister of Defense.
We were invited to the
Knesset (Israel’s parliament) and were received warmly
as “family.” (We also met Avigdor Lieberman
briefly at breakfast, who has just been appointed
Minister of Strategy, focusing on Iran.)
While at the Knesset
we were honored to be addressed by Benny
Elon, a member of the Knesset as well as a
Rabbi and a part of the Judeo Christian Caucus.
It was fascinating to
see many of these same names daily in the Jerusalem Post
as the tensions continue.
The IDF was expanding
its operations in Gaza to stop the continued smuggling
of arms in literally dozens of tunnels with Egypt. (300
Hamas terrorists have been killed in the past three
months.) The Hamas continue toward establishing a
10,000-soldier force modeled after the Hezbollah in the
north, with anti-tank and missile systems.
In the north, Syria
continues to arm the Hezbollah in Lebanon, jeopardizing
the cease-fire issued by UN Security Council Resolution
1701. But the greatest threat—to both Israel and the
U.S.—is the aggressive pursuit of nuclear weapons
by Iran.
There are insider
views that Iran may be only a year away from a
capability that neither Israel nor the U.S. can ignore.
It seems that a major
confrontation on this issue continues to threaten the
strategic horizon ahead of us all.
One of the purposes of
this trip was to provide our group with the specific
threats that Israel is facing today.
All of our speakers
were unanimous in their detailing of the threats, but
Rabbi Benny Elon provided the quote of the trip when he
said, “Israel must learn the following lesson in order
to survive these turbulent times. We must first and
foremost be Biblically correct and then, when possible,
politically correct—disaster will await us if we get
these two out of order.”
Our next trip to
Israel will be April 18 – 28, 2007, and preparations are
well underway. This more devotional study tour will
focus on traditional Biblical sites and we hope you will
pray about joining us.
(We are also offering
a pre-trip excursion to Rome.)
For more information
on this this upcoming trip, go
here, or phone Travel Management Incorporated
at 1-800-975-7775.
We have also begun
planning our Israel II trip for 2007. The dates are
still being finalized but currently we are looking at
the early part of October. Since this trip is limited in
size, we encourage you to sign up early! For more
information on Israel II, please contact Sharon
Stolebarger
here.
(These trips will also
include course credit and K-credits to students enrolled
in the Institute. See
www.StudyCenter.com
for details.)
