Page 8 - Holyland Magazine - 2019 Edition

3 Countries &
1 Volcano

Judging by the never-ending flow of people to Mount Bental,
you’d never know this mountaintop was anything but what it
is now – one of the most popular sites in the Golan Heights.

By Miriam Feinberg Vamosh

Kibbutz Merom Golan and its adjacent
reservoir, as seen from Mount Bental

Mount Bental, on the edge of an member of Kibbutz Merom Golan. Several of his unsuspecting Syrian “friends” and their
extinct volcanic crater in the Golan of his whimsical creations dot the pathway Soviet military allies. (Cohen was caught and
Heights, was once a forbidding – from the parking lot to the lookout. How publicly executed in Damascus in 1965.)
and to visitors, forbidden – Israel de Yong manages to make a metal lizard
Defense Forces outpost. But thanks smile and a rusted metal-patchwork bat The view to the east also reveals the United
to the calm that has prevailed in the Golan wink and appear to jump for joy at the sight Nations base that now monitors the ceasefire
for over three decades, the army acceded to of the visitors is part of the charm of these between Israel and Syria. In the 1973 Yom
the request of Kibbutz Merom Golan, located sculptures. Originally from the Netherlands, Kippur War, Israel was pushed back from the
at the foot of Mount Bental, and opened the De Yong has a number of other sculptures Quneitra line and then retook it, but during the
reinforced trenches, bunkers and foxholes on view elsewhere in the Golan Heights. subsequent ceasefire talks brokered by then
of this outpost to curious visitors. You can US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, gave
now explore the nooks and niches leading From the heights of Mount Bental, 3,495 feet up the town in the interest of peace. However
to the command room, bunks and kitchen above sea level, fruit trees and vineyards blanket Israel made it clear it would not come down
deep underground. It’s a fun and exciting the dark, rich volcanic soil right up to the Syrian from Mount Bental and the other volcanic
way to learn about the area’s military history, border. During spring and summer, several peaks that now form the ceasefire line, which
especially since it is about as far from a orchards offer “pick-your-own” experiences is why visitors today can stand here looking
frontal lecture as you can get. so you can take away the fun of working deep into Syria. You can also see “new
outdoors along with your boxes of cherries, Quneitra” – a city stretching into the distance
It is so peaceful here that the site’s designers plums, nectarines and other fruit. beyond the old town, and considered by
decided people need a reminder of just how many to be a stake in future peaceful relations
small Israel really is. That comes in the form of But back to the lookout, there is more to between the two countries.
a signpost, giving the distances from this point see. Across the border is the Syrian city of
to Jerusalem, Washington and Damascus, Quneitra, which until 1967 was not only home To the right (south) rises another of these
among other significant destinations. to members of the Slavic Circassian minority peaks, Mount Avital, bristling with antennas
who settled there in the 19th century, but also that belong to Israel’s security “eyes,”
The sign is not the site’s only attempt at the location of the Syrian army’s nerve center. and beyond that, the country’s only wind
irony. There is also iron collected from You can even see the Syrian high command turbines, located on Mount Asania. These 10
military scrap found in the battlefields of the headquarters, where Israeli master spy Eli turbines produce clean energy for over 4,000
area. These were transformed into a series Cohen, deep undercover in Syria for years, households, thanks to the windswept heights
of sculptures created by Joop de Yong, a was the only civilian ever to visit, as the guest on which they are located.

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