"Visiting Our Mates" - FOIWA Mission to Israel, April 2012
Now is the time to decide and pay your deposit for Friends of Israel WA “Visiting Our Mates” trip to Israel (22 April - 5 May)!!
See below for the intitial program or visit our our tour operator's website
Tel Aviv Beachfront (photo by Ronsho)
Our tour operator: Jetset Travel Rose Bay, specialises in tours to Israel from Australia. With their wealth of experience they’ve been very professional at accommodating our special interests and requests, and to work with our preferred guides and friends in Israel to put together a tour specifically-tailored for FOIWA members.
We have also found their quotes extremely competitive. We have increased the length of the tour to 13 days, including 11 full days of touring and two free days at leisure in Tel Aviv to end the trip. We now expect the trip to cost about $5,700, and almost certainly less than $6,000 including air fares, accommodation, most meals, touring and event costs, as noted below. We’re confident that you’ll be getting a really great deal by travelling with FOIWA.
Contact me now to avoid missing out - join us in a visit to our mates in Israel.
Please see below for a more detailed look at the current plan. Together with our good friends in the Israel-Australia Chamber of Commerce, we will be adding special lectures and activities into the program, so you’ll be meeting high-level academic and political personalities and seeing far more than the regular tourist sees. (The program will be updated as we develop it, but now is the time to give me any requests or suggestions.)
ITINERARY
Sunday 22 April 2012 Arrival
Arrive to Ben Gurion airport on flight TBA. Transfer to your hotel in Jerusalem
Overnight: Jerusalem
Monday 23 April 2012 Jerusalem - Old City
Start with a spectacular view of Jerusalem from Mount of Olives. Then we will visit the Western Wall and we will be able to see Bar Mitzvah celebrations at the Kotel. We will walk through the City of David, where over 3,000 years ago King David established the capital of the first autonomous Jewish state. Then we will enter the Old City and will walk through the Jewish Quarter via the renovated Hurba Synagogue. Explore the colorful bazaars and walk the Via Dolorosa (Stations of the Cross) as far as the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
In the evening we will see the Light and Sound show at the Tower of David.
Overnight: Jerusalem
Tuesday 24 April 2012 Jerusalem - ANZAC day
We will start the ANZAC day commemoration at the Commonwealth War cemetery on Mount Scopus. We will have a briefing on ANZAC history and connection to Israel. Continue to the Herzl Museum where we will learn about Herzl and the history of the Zionist Movement. Travel to Bethlehem this morning - Visit the Church of the Nativity and see the grotto where Jesus was born and then onto the Shepherds Fields to see how life was like more than 2,000 years ago.
Overnight: Jerusalem
Wednesday 25 April 2012 Jerusalem - New City
We will start our day with a moving visit to Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial. We will continue to Gush Etzion including a Multi Media presentation of the history of the Jewish settlement in the area and the local winery. We will drive back to Jerusalem and pass by the Israeli Parliament, the Knneset, and visit the newly renovated Israel Museum, or we will end our day with a visit to the Menachem Begin Museum, an experiential encounter with one of Israel’s outstanding Prime Ministers, Menahem Begin, the sixth Israeli prime minister. The museum takes the visitor on a voyage through time including reenactments, original items, documentaries, interactive touch screens, dramatic lighting and surrounding soundtrack. Through the story of Begin's résumé the museum offers its visitor an historic encounter with the most thrilling and dramatic points in Israel's history.
Evening tour of the Western Wall Tunnels.
Overnight: Jerusalem
Thursday 26 April 2012 Masada and Dead Sea
Drive down through the Judean desert on your way to the lowest point on earth - the Dead Sea, located some 400 meters below sea level. Visit Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. Enjoy a walk in the beautiful oasis of Ein Gedi. Enjoy a “swim” in the salty, mineral rich water. Ascend the rock of Masada and walk through the ruins of palaces built by Herod the Great and see evidence of the heroic struggle. Drive to Beer Sheba
Overnight: Beer Sheba
Friday 27 April 2012 Beer Sheba
We will start the day with a visit to Sderot to see the effects of the Rocket terrorism on the town.
We continue on to an Australian JNF water project. Continue on to visit various sites in Beer Sheba commemorating the achievements of the Australian soldiers in World War 1, follow the ANZAC trail and the main battlefield sites in the area and do a full review of the Charge of the Light Horse ,and see the magnificent new Park of the Australian Soldier.
Overnight: Beer Sheba
Saturday 28 April 2012 Megiddo and Nazareth
We will drive north to the ancient city of Meggido at the crossroads of an important ancient highway identified as the site of Armageddon. See the ancient city that was inhabited continuously for more than five millennia. Continue to Nazareth for a visit to the Church of Annunciation and Mary’s Well. We will drive via Cana to Safed where we will have a tour of– the City of Jewish Mysticism. And then continue to our hotel in the North.
Overnight: Galilee
Sunday 29 April 2012 Golan
Start the day with a visit to Tel Dan - a National Park combining a lush nature reserve with a biblical archaeological experience. This was the capital of the ancient northern kingdom, ancient city gates, and other archaeological finds. Continue on for a walk through Caesarea-Phillippi at Banias Falls. Ascend the Golan Heights and from Mt. Bental, peer deep into Syria and the ghost town of Kuneitra Visit Katzerin and the Golan Winery and Multi Media presentation :”Keshem Hagolan” winery..
Overnight: Sea of Galilee
Monday 30 April 2012 Sea of Galilee
Experience an early morning sail across the Sea of Galilee. The ride will end at Ginossar, where we shall visit the ancient boat from the time of Jesus that was found nearby. Visit Tabgha, where the miracle of the Multiplication took place . Continue onto Capernaum, the center of Jesus’ Ministries - Ascend to the top of the Mt. of Beatitudes, where you can re-live the Sermon on the Mount. Visit the baptism site at Yardenit. Drive to Zippori, an outstanding archaeological site and visit the old city with the amazing water system.
Drive to Haifa
Overnight: Haifa
Tuesday 1 May 2012 Mount Carmel and Caesarea
We will start our day with a walking tour in the German Colony and see the beautiful Bauhaus buildings. View the Baha’i gardens. Drive to the top of Mount Carmel and view from the top the Baha’i center and its gardens. We will continue to the Druze village of Dalit EL Carmel for a walk around the village. Onto Atlit to visit the British Detention Camp.We will drive to Caesarea to visit the Roman Theatre and the Crusader Fortress and then continue to Tel Aviv.
Overnight:Tel Aviv
Wednesday 2 May 2012 Tel Aviv
We will drive to Independence Hall where in 1948 David Ben Gurion declared Israel as an independent nation. We will visit the Rabin Museum at the Yitzhak Rabin Center. It is the first and only museum in Israel to explore the development of the State of Israel as a young democracy. The museum is built in a downward spiral and presents two parallel stories, one of the history of the State of Israel and the other of the society and the biography of Yitzhak Rabin. Continue to visit the historical city of Old Jaffa and Neve Tzedek, the first neighborhoods in the modern city of Tel Aviv
Overnight: Tel Aviv
Thursday 3 May 2012 Education and Hi – Tech in Israel
Israel is well known worldwide for its Hi Tech industry. Today we will arrange some visits to a few hi tech success stories .We will visit the Inter Disciplinary Center in Herzliya.
Overnight: Tel Aviv
Friday 4 May 2012 At Leisure
Free timefor private sightseeing and cultural events. Friday night dinner at the hotel.
Overnight: Tel Aviv
Saturday 5 May 2012 Departure
Free day.In the evening transfer to Ben Gurion airport for your departure flight TBA.