In the spring of 1967 Arab capitals wanted to liberate historic Palestine, from what was seen as an illegitimate occupation by Israel. Egyptian President Nasser closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping. Jordan and Syria massed troops on their borders with Israel.
On June 6 Israel launched a pre-emptive attack on its Arab neighbors, devastating the armies of Syria, Egypt and Jordan. The conflict came to be known as the Six Day War. Israel captured Sinai and Gaza from Egypt, the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria. All around the Golan Heights you will see evidence of abandoned Syrian bunkers, old tanks and Israeli bunkers.
In 1973 Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack on Israel on Yom Kippur. Unprepared Israel was forced to withdraw but soon rallied and pushed the Arab armies back. We stopped at Kibbutz El Rom to view a short movie about the battle called “Valley of the Tears.”
Next we visited the mountaintop city of Tsfat, which is a center of Kabbalah ( Jewish mysticism) since the 16th century. According to the Jerusalem Talmud, Tsfat was the site of one of the hilltop fire beacons used to convey news of the sighting of the new moon in Jerusalem. The Crusaders built a vast citadel to control the highway to Damascus.
During the 15th and 16th centuries, Tsfat’s Jewish community increased in size and importance thanks to an influx of Sephardic Jews expelled from Spain. In the late 1700’s, Tsfat welcomed Hasidim from Russia. Tsfat was decimated by the plague in 1742, 1812 and 1847, and devastated by earthquakes in 1759 and 1837.