July 17

This morning, MBI set off for a beautiful hike in the far North of
Israel. They went to a stream called the Hatzbani. This is one of
Israel's 3 main water sources that leads to the Jordan River and has

its sources in Lebanon. As an important source of Israel’s water,
when Lebanon and Syria began making efforts to divert the stream
in 1967, it was one of the instigations that led to the 6-day War.
The Hatzbani sits at the foot of the picturesque Hermon Mountain,
which means that it’s near the border with Syria and Lebanon. This
is a great hike due its beauty and was a nice break from the heat as
the MBIers had the opportunity to go in the water.

Then the MBIers visited Har Bental, an amazing viewpoint at the top
of the Golan. Har Bental is a strategically important area because
it overlooks the Golan, Syria and Lebanon. As such, Har Bental
contains a military installment that was placed there after the 1967
war. After chasing each other through the trenches, the MBIers got
a chance to learn about this chapter of Israel’s history, while taking
in the amazing view.

Having seen two beautiful sites which each also have significance
in the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict, the MBIers spent the time
before dinner learning a bit more about the conflict and discussing
it. In Habonim we try to avoid glorifying war. However, there’s no
denying that conflict has played a major role in Israel’s history and
we think it’s important to learn about that history.