An eye-opening Israel tour focused on Israeli society

Day #1 - Saturday

Welcome to Israel! After landing at Ben-Gurion airport (afternoon), we will be met and assisted by an airport VIP service, and taken directly to Jerusalem. Quick check-in at Inbal hotel, and let's make sure we don't miss the breathtaking sunset from the Sherover Promenade overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem! Then we take a walk to the lovely stone-made neighborhood of Yemin-Moshe, having dinner in a restaurant overlooking the walls of the Old City and Mount Zion.

Early bed time is highly recommended tonight….

Day #2 - Sunday

After breakfast, we shall be gathering in a conference room at the hotel for the Mission's opening session.

This spiritually exciting day starts at Mount of Olives, visiting the Dominus Flevit church, Latin for "The Lord Wept" — when He saw Jerusalem and predicted its destruction. Then we descend to the Palms Valley to visit the magnificent Gardens and Church of Gethsemane (also called "Church of Agony"), where Jesus prayed for the last time on the night before he was crucified (Luke 22:43-44).

Keeping track of His last days, we arrive at Mount Zion, visiting several sites related to well-known events: the Church of Dormition where Mary fell into an eternal sleep; Chiaphas' House and the dungeon where Jesus was held before His trial (John 18:24-27) and the "Room of the Last Supper" where Jesus shared His last meal with his 12 Apostles on the eve of Passover. It was here that He revealed that one of the Apostles would betray Him (Mark 14:17-25). Time permitting, we'll take a short walk on the 500 year old walls of the city.

After a short lunch in one of the city's falafels, we get closer to His last moments, walking through the famous Via-Dolorosa ("Path of Torture"), stopping at each one of the 14 stations, and eventually arriving at the holiest place, where the most tragic events took place – the Holy Sepulcher. Once a remote private gravesite, it was here that Jesus was taken off the cross and put in the grave, only to disappear two days later. The New Testament accompanies us at every step we make during this day, bringing His last moments alive in a very meaningful way. In the colorful oriental bazaar in the Muslim quarter, each of us will enjoy some free 'hanging around' time – and also be ready for a team-mission –surprise!

Evening tour followed by dinner at the Ben-Yehuda pedestrian mall and the beautiful 19th century neighborhood of Nachalat-Shiva.

Day #3 - Monday

This day concentrates on the roots of ancient Jerusalem and its astonishing history - starting at the City of David, where we will explore its complicated undersurface water system and try to picture the daily life of the Israelite kingdom 3000 years ago.

Ascending in time and altitude, we reach the Western Wall - holiest site for Jews and last evidence of the Holy Temple. On to Davidson Center, where a virtual Jewish pilgrim making his way to worship God at the Temple will lead us through his way.

After lunch at the Christian Quarter, we make our way to the alternative site of the Garden Tomb, which is believed to be the true site of Golgotha by some researchers

At this point we leave the old city (we'll come back later), to visit the Israel Museum, observing a 2nd-Temple-time model of Jerusalem, followed by one of the country's most exceptional archeological finds – the Dead-Sea Scrolls at the Shrine of the Book, oldest manuscript of the original Bible, dating back 2000 years.

It's a long day today, so we'll take a short rest at the hotel before gathering at a private conference room, to watch together a movie directed by a retired Armored Battalion Commander, Brig. Gen. A. K., who led his men through one of the most heroic battles in the 1973 war in the Syrian border. Kahalani, who was awarded the IDF's highest decoration – the Medal of Valor, will join us later for private dinner, and speak about his personal memories from this battle.

After dinner, we are back at the old city, now at the Jewish Quarter, visiting some of its interesting sites, such as the Cardo - an active 1600-year old shopping boulevard.

We pay a second visit to the Western Wall – a completely different experience at night, before reaching the amazing site of the Western Wall Tunnels, where we go deep under the surface to reveal some of the mysteries of this ancient city.

Day #4 - Tuesday

After early breakfast and check out, we go backwards in time exactly 2008 years, while visiting Jesus' birthplace - the Church of Nativity at Bethlehem.

The next part of today will be emotional and special. We visit Yad-Vashem, the national Holocaust Memorial of the State of Israel. It is said on Yad-Vashem, that: "you can see Israel without Yad-Vashem, but you can not understand Israel without Yad-Vashem". A powerful, if not indelible, impression is guaranteed, as we will be joined by Mrs. E. K., who has kindly agreed to share with us her hair-raising memories from the Nazi death camp of Auschwitz. In addition, we are honored to have K. and W. from our group, who have prepared a hand carved wood wreath, which they will hand to the Museum's authorities as a gift during a special ceremony will shall hold.

Take a deep breath before we continue to the second part of the day, going to Mount Scopus to visit the Mormon Jerusalem Center of Brigham-Young University. One of the university's Executives will guide us through the place, in a private tour that will also include a pipe organ concert, overlooking the breathtaking view of the old city of Jerusalem.

Saying goodbye to Jerusalem, we drive north to the Samaria area, joined by Mr. A. M. – a former Head of the Judea & Samaria Settlement Movement, who will brief us on the history of this unique movement.

We reach Shilo, the spiritual and religious center of the Israelites before King David had established Jerusalem as Capital City. Shilo was the center of the Tribe of Efraim, one of Joseph's sons – the ancestors of the Mormons. Mrs. R. E., Site Manager, will lead us here.

The tour will be followed by a very special evening: on a top of the hill in the settlement of Elee, we will meet the parents of one of Israel's bravest combat officers ever, the late Major Roee Klein, who saved the lives of his men during the recent war in Lebanon, as he jumped over a cocked hand grenade, sacrificing his own life. Roee's wife and children still live in Elee, and his story will facilitate a discussion on the meaning of bravery, joined by his parents. In addition, the parents of the Late Noam Apter will join us. Noam was a Yeshiva student at the settlement of Otniel in 2002, while 2 Palestinian terrorists armed with M-16's penetrated the Yeshiva, and started to shoot at the students who were preparing for the Shabbat diner. Noam, who was cooking dinner for his mates, sacrificed his life by shutting the door to the main hall, thus preventing an even greater massacre. Noam was killed at the age of 22.

After dinner, we drive to Haifa and check-in the Crown Plaza Hotel.

Day #5 - Wednesday

Welcome to Haifa, the major port city of Israel, and home for some of the country's most cutting-edge academic and hi-tech hubs.

We start with a tour of the Bahai Gardens and Shrine, a large one-of-a-kind complex of gardens built on a steep mountain slope, maintained by members of this small, unique, friendly and young religion.

Our next interesting visit will be at Beit-Gagefen, a center of Jewish-Arab coexistence. Haifa is a mixed city that represents the hopes for peace over the Middle-East, and Beit-Gagefen is one of the leading institutions in these efforts. Visit hosted by Adv. W. Z., chairman of Beit-Gagefen, and a well-known Arab activist in multiple Arab-Jewish coexistence initiatives.

Other demostration of the efforts made to create coexistence in Israel can be seen in the "Tolerance Center" in "the Hebrew Reali" school, a privately-owned 12-year elite institution, where we will be meeting and guided by the General Manager, Mr. R. K.

Our next visit will be at the military Naval Base, meeting the Navy's Commander, who will show us some of his force's advance vessels.

An afternoon tour of the impressive Herodian port city of Caesarea will be followed by dinner overlooking the Mediterranean sunset.

Day #6 - Thursday

Israel's Civic Service Director, Dr. R. G., will be joining us after breakfast, to discuss this new perception of re-balancing national duties among various sectors in Israel's society.

After check-out, we leave Haifa, driving north towards the Golan Heights, visiting the fortifications built by the Israelis and the Syrians on two sides of the border.

After lunch at Kibbutz Merom-Golan, we drive through the Druze villages and reach Metula – a village residing just a few feet from the Lebanese border. Here we meet lieutenant colonel (res.) A. S., who commanded his elite Battalion of paratrooper reservists during the recent war in Lebanon. Avi will take us through the bloody history of the Israeli-Lebanon border, and share with us his life as a high-ranked reserves officer.

After check-in "Vila Galilee" and a short rest, we take an evening walk followed by dinner in the lovely romantic village of Rosh-Pina.

Day #7 - Friday

Welcome to the mountains of Galilee, the early-childhood area of young Jesus, and where most of His miracles took place.

We start at Domus Galillaeae. One of the greatest desires of Pope Paul VI was to build in Israel a center where Seminarians could complete their formation before being ordained, and he decided it will be built on the Mount of the Beatitudes, the place of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). We will be hosted there, and continue on to Capernaum, the site of some of Jesus' best-known miracles, such as healing the paralyzed man (Mark 2:1-12), the coins in the mouth of the fish (Matthew 17:24-27), and the evil spirit driven out of a man's heart (Luke 4:31-37). We proceed to Tabgha, visiting the Church of Multiplication, the traditional site of the miracle of the loaves and fishes (Mark 6:30-46). Later, we sail on a boat on the Sea of Galilee to Tiberius, commemorating Jesus walking on these waters.

After lunch on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, we come to the place where it all started – Nazareth. We shall visit the Basilica of the Annunciation, built where Mary was visited by the Archangel Gabriel and was told that she had been chosen to be the mother of Jesus (Luke 1:26-38), and few other famous sites in this important town.

Driving south, we finally reach Tel-Aviv, the un-official capital of modern Israel. This city is the center of Israel's economy, culture, and business life. After checking-in the Carlton Hotel, we have our dinner and nice evening walk at the city's lively Harbor.

Day #8 - Saturday

We leave very early today to Massada, on the shores of the Dead-Sea. We travel back in time to the dramatic events that took place on this mountain 2000 years ago, when 960 Jewish men, women and children took their last stand against the Roman army. We will examine their story from a different viewpoint, exploring the religious beliefs and the circumstances that led these brave people to make such an extreme decision.

This is our last evening together, so we keep the details of our concluding event as a surprise for you!

Short ride to the airport (VIP arrangement), and we wave Shalom to Israel!