LEADERSHIP MISSIONS
Israel 2009
Israel: Economic and Social Diversity

For nine days, beginning on October 18th, a group of twenty delegates from Greater Prescott immersed themselves in the diversity that is Israel. Because even a brief description of the highlights of the trip would far exceed the space of this newsletter, only a few of the outstanding encounters the delegates experienced can be spotlighted.

On their first full day in Israel, the group was introduced to the status of the current peace process with lectures from military and political experts. Major-General Danny Rothschild, who was senior negotiator for the Jordanian Peace talks of 1994, provided a somber summary of the arduous peace process between the Israelis and the Palestinians. This was followed by a visit to the U. S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, where the delegates received a briefing on the current peace process by U.S. Ambassador James Cunningham. With a military escort accompanying the group’s travel bus, the delegates got an up-close and personal look at the security barrier separating the Israelis and Palestinians along the West Bank. Opportunities to talk with the Israeli politicians in charge of the border crossing and the civilians overseeing the transfer station of goods and services at the border provided the group with a better understanding of the complexities of securing the border.

At the site of the decisive tank battle in the Golan Heights during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the delegates heard first-hand how 177 Israeli tanks defeated a Syrian force of over 2,000 tanks. The hero of that battle and the recipient of Israel’s highest military honor, the Medal of Valor, Retired General Avigdor Kahalani, provided the delegates with a spellbinding account of how the weary Israeli force overcame all odds and prevented the Syrians from overrunning Israel.

Of course, the group visited all of the major religious sites, including the Sea of Galilee, the Church of the Beatitudes, the Church of Multiplication, and the Capernaum ruins. In Old Jerusalem the group toured the Western Wall, Via Dolorosa, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and recent excavations under the Western Wall. No trip to Israel would be complete without a visit to the hilltop fortress of Masada and the Dead Sea - the delegates enjoyed their float in the salty waters!

Ken Bennett best summed up the experience by saying: “Whether you’re a student of history, politics, religion, archaeology, economics or technology, it’s a most fascinating place. Visiting such a place, one cannot return without a changed perspective on the world and without marveling at the profound impact that Israel has in the world.”