Israel Trip Part 2: Military Outpost – Golan heights – Borders
Today I’m going to talk about my experience going to the Israel-Lebanon border.
In the morning we went to a community commune where people live right on the border. This is where we were able to see the border up close. The borders in Israel are electric; they won’t shock you but they do have sensors to detect any pressure and will send an alert.
Since there is such a big conflict between Israel and Lebanon, tunnels used to be dug under the border to smuggle things like drugs into Israel. At the top of the hill on the border, a Hezbollah outpost was stationed to overlook into Israel. Hezbollah is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group which is Iranian controlled.
Later that day we visited an Israeli military outpost where we got to meet a few soldiers and see a tank. Every Israeli citizen has to serve in the military at some compacity. Men are required to serve for three years and women for two. Soldiers here are very young; each man there was between 18-21 years old. When we had the opportunity to talk to them I asked: what is something that they want to tell Americans about Israel? Unanimously their answers were “we love our country” and “we want peace.” Across the country when talking to citizens, all they want is peace.
While traveling in Israel we saw many borders, overlooking Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. But the Golan heights were breathtaking. This was one of my favorite sights to see. While at the top of the Golan heights, we all stood together in a circle and prayed for peace in Israel. On the top, there are old bunkers and mines from previous wars. Overlooking the Syrian border, we learned that it serves as a vital advantage point for Israel and protects the Syrians away from the Jordan river.
After spending the day overlooking borders and with military personnel it’s safe to say America could take a play from this playbook and have a stronger border presence to protect our own country.
