The itinerary below has been confirmed, but is tentative depending on a variety of unfolding variables, including political developments.

DAY ONE: SATURDAY, MAY 3: DEPARTURE

• Depart from New York City (JFK International Airport): Overnight flight

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DAY TWO: SUNDAY, MAY 4: ARRIVAL

• Arrive at Ben Gurion International Airport.

• Welcome by our representative and assistance with arrival formalities.

• Drive through Tel Aviv, known as the “city that never sleeps” and pass by centers of culture and recreation such as the Habima Theater, sprawling beaches, Dizengoff Street and Rabin Square.

• Check into our hotel: the Crowne Plaza, Tel Aviv.

• Welcome dinner at our hotel

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DAY THREE: MONDAY, MAY 5: PRESENT DAY CONFLICTS

• Breakfast at our hotel.

• Israel’s Strategic Position: Dialogue
with General (Res.) Shlomo Gazit, former director of IDF military intelligence and fellow at the Jaffe Strategic Center for Strategic Studies at the Tel Aviv University.

• A behind the scenes look at the Israeli economy, exploring the diversity of
Israel’s high technology industry, including dialogues with venture capitalists and visits to a number of companies from biotech firms to software houses and more

• Lunch on your own.

• Drive to Sderot, target of many Hamas rocket attacks, for a meeting with city officials and residents to hear first hand the challenges of living on what has become a front line in terrorist attacks.

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DAY FOUR: TUESDAY, MAY 6: TEL AVIV-GOLAN

• Breakfast at the hotel.

• Depart Tel Aviv and drive along the Trans-Israel Highway for a close up view of the ‘Security Barrier’ along the seam zone between Israel and the Palestinian Territories along with Yossi Alpher, Middle East Analyst, former official of the Mossad, and the Director of the Jaffe Center for Strategic Studies at the Tel Aviv University.

• Stop at the Caesarea aqueducts for a short historical overview on the importance of what was once ancient Rome’s major port city.

• Stop on top of Mount Carmel for a scenic overlook of Haifa Bay.

• Lunch on your own.

• Drive to the Upper Galilee and meet with Colonel (Res.) Kobi Marom, former Northern Brigade Commander for a dialogue on The Balance of Power on Israel’s Northern Border, including a discussion on the implications of the 2nd Lebanese War.

• Explore Israel’s security situation on the Golan Heights while overlooking the Hula Valley from former Syrian fortifications. Cross the Golan Plateau to the border with Syria and observe the abandoned city of Kuneitra and the United Nations outpost located nearby.

• Check into our guesthouse at the pastoral kibbutz Kfar Blum, in the Upper Galilee.

• Dinner at the guesthouse.

• Kibbutz Ideology and Israeli Reality in the 21st Century: Meet with second-generation kibbutz member Dubi Ben Ari.

• Overnight: Kfar Blum Kibbutz Guesthouse

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DAY FIVE: WEDNESDAY, MAY 7: TRAVELING THE JORDAN VALLEY RIFT

• Breakfast at the guest house

• Short hike along the Banias River at the base of the Golan Heights, also known as Caesarea Philipi, the site where Jesus revealed Paul’s leadership role among the disciples.

• Depart the Upper Galilee and drive via Tiberias, a bustling city located on the shores of the Kinneret (Sea of Gallilee), one of the four holy Jewish cities in Israel and where Maimonedes is buried.

• Visit the Church of the Annunciation of Christ and Joseph’s Well in Nazareth.

• Lunch on your own.

• Visit the Beit Shean National Park, one of the largest archaeological sites in Israel with its Biblical Tel and ongoing excavations exposing the vast Roman-Byzantine City.

• Drive through the Jordan Rift Valley.

• Stop at Mount Scopus to say the traditional “shehechiyanu” blessing of thanks, recited upon entering Jerusalem.

• The Hills around Jerusalem: Drive around Jerusalem while viewing the city from many of its overlooks and promenades.

• Check into our hotel, the Belmont Hotel, followed by dinner at the hotel.

• Drive into Jerusalem and join Israelis as they celebrate Israel’s 60th Yom Ha’atzmaut (Independence Day), in
street celebrations

• Overnight: Belmont Hotel, Jerusalem Hills

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DAY SIX: THURSDAY, MAY 8: STRATEGIES FOR SURVIVAL

• Breakfast at the hotel.

• Drive to the Dead Sea region.

• Short hike to Nahal David the freshwater spring at the Ein Gedi Nature Reserve, a lush oasis in the Judean Desert overlooking the Dead Sea.

• Ascend Masada by cable car to visit Masada, Herod’s mountain palace and site of the Jewish Zealots’ last stand against the Roman Legionnaires. Explore the many archaeological remains from the Roman and Byzantine Eras.

• Lunch on your own en route.

• Bathe in the relaxing and healthy sulphur springs at the Mineral Beach and float in the Dead Sea.

• Return to Jerusalem.

• Dinner at the hotel.

• Evening lecture: Noted Israeli journalist will provide perspective on the threat of Islam in the Middle East

• Overnight: Belmont Hotel, Jerusalem Hills

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DAY SEVEN: FRIDAY, MAY 9: THE LAYERS OF JERUSALEM

• Breakfast at the hotel.

• Walking tour through the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, for guided visits to some of the sites excavated over the past 30 years, including:

• Walk along the rooftops of the Old City for a behind the scenes look at the various communities in Jerusalem and how they live together.

• The Cardo, a Byzantine street that is now the world’s oldest shopping arcade.

• The Hurva Square, the central square of the Jewish Quarter.

• Guided visit through the 2,000-year old Herodian Mansions in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City.

• The Kotel (Western Wall).

• Guided visit to the Davidson Archaeological Park with a special visit to the Davidson Center, to view the new three-dimensional computer generated presentation of Life During the Time of the Temple, followed by a guided visit to the Southern Wall Excavations, OR visit the Western Wall Tunnel, the underground continuation of the Western Wall along the Temple Mount.

• Lunch on your own on the vibrant, boutique-lined Emek Refaim Street in the German Colony of Jerusalem, followed by free time to enjoy the erev Shabbat atmosphere and shop or optional visit to Bethlehem.

• Observe and take part in welcoming Shabbat (the Sabbath) at the Western Wall.

• Shabbat (Sabbath) dinner at the hotel.

• Overnight: Belmont Hotel, Jerusalem Hills

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DAY EIGHT: SATURDAY, MAY 10: SHABBAT (SABBATH) IN JERUSALEM

• Breakfast at the hotel.

• Optional Shabbat services at one of Jerusalem’s synagogues.

• Lunch on own.

• Visit the Israel Museum, one of the most creative and innovative museums in the world with a wide and eclectic collection, ranging from Judaica and archaeology to Renaissance and contemporary Israeli art, concluding with a visit to the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Shrine of the Book and the newly restored Second Temple Period Model of Jerusalem.

• Return to the Old City and tour the Christian Quarter, including the Via Dolorsa and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

• The Labyrinth of Israeli Politics: Dialogue with Dr. Reuven Hazan of the Political Science Department at Hebrew University.

• Inspirational Ben Kodesh Lechol Havdallah (end of the Sabbath) service overlooking the Old City.

• Stroll through the Ben Yehuda and Nachalat Shiva Pedestrian Mall, joining the many Israelis out on the town.

• Dinner on own.

• Overnight: Belmont Hotel, Jerusalem Hills

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DAY NINE: SUNDAY, MAY 11: MEMORIES FOR THE FUTURE

• Breakfast at the hotel.

• Optional Sunday services at one of Jerusalem’s Christian churches.

• Guided visit through the newly renovated Yad Vashem complex, the Jewish National Memorial to the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust, including:
      * The Avenue of the Righteous
      * The new Historical Museum
      * The Children’s Memorial
      * The Valley of the Communities
      * A concluding Memorial Service

• Lunch on your own.

• Visit the graves of Israel’s founder Theodor Herzl and assassinated former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin at Mt. Herzl in Jerusalem.

• Meet with a representative of the Palestinian Authority for perspective from the other side of the spectrum.

• Meeting with victims of terrorist attacks and/or with Dr. Avi Rifkin, head of the Hadassah Medical Trauma Center.

• Free time for shopping.

• Dinner at the hotel.

• Overnight: Belmont Hotel, Jerusalem Hills

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DAY TEN: MONDAY, MAY 12: CHANNELS OF DIALOGUE

• Breakfast at the hotel.

• Meet with the founders of The Media Line, a non-profit news organization established to enhance and balance media coverage in the Middle East, promote independent reporting in the region, and break down barriers to understanding in the Arab and Israeli journalism communities. Their mission is to provide credible, unbiased content, background and context to local media outlets throughout the Middle East
and around the world, including the United States, Canada, Europe
and Australasia.

• A prominent Israeli journalist’s perspective on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the prospects for peace

• Check out of the hotel.

• Visit to the West Bank settlement Gush Etzion and get the perspective of some of the residents of there on the prospects of peace.

• Lunch on your own en route.

• Plant a tree in the JNF Forest near Modi’in.

• Continue to Tel Aviv and check into our hotel, the Crowne Plaza, with day-use rooms.

• Free time OR explore two thousand years of rich Jewish culture and community at Beth Hatefutsoth, the Museum of the Jewish People, located on the campus of Tel Aviv University.

• Time for shopping.

• Enjoy a farewell Middle-Eastern style dinner with a Yemenite touch at Maganda restaurant, with a varied selection of salads and grilled meats, located in the Yemenite Quarter of Tel Aviv.

• Transfer to Ben Gurion International Airport.

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DAY ELEVEN: TUESDAY, MAY 13: DEPARTURE

• Early morning departure flight to New York City (JFK International Airport), arriving the same day.

PLEASE NOTE: Above itinerary is tentative and subject to change

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