Photos from Israel, September 2009

The Jerusalem money changers were kicked out of the temple a couple of thousand years ago.

Jerusalem

Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Jerusalem, a domed ceiling

Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Jerusalem

Somewhere in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Jerusalem

Roman columns in Jerusalem

The Market. (There are also modern supermarkets).

This is a replica of the base of the seige tower the Romans used to take Masada in 73 AD. They hauled a whole bunch of rock and dirt to the mountain to make a rampart almost 300 feet tall.

Masada Cistern. There were a about a dozen of these. I'm not sure whether there was enough rainfall, or if they had to haul water into them. They held somewhere between 100,000 and 200,000 gallons of water.

There were around 10 Roman camps that surrounded Masada. I'm not sure whether these have been rebuilt, but you can see the rocks they used from Mosada. From below, it isn't that noticeable.

The Dead Sea.
The lowest place on earth is even lower than it used to be. The water level has been dropping because water from the Jordan river is used by people. Since the 1950's, they have been considering building a canal from the Mediterranean or Red Sea to refill the Dead Sea and generate electricity.

A Masada Local

Masada, 2000 years ago

Ravens are Everywhere!

Masada bird

"Masada will never fall again."

This is the ramp the Romans built to attack Masada. It took about three months.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masada

A Bedouin Village in Israel

Monument to the Negev Brigade in the 1948 War of Independence, outside Beersheba. This is a battle plan from 1948, when the Negev Brigade attacked the Egyptian army based in Beersheba.

Monument to the Negev Brigade in the 1948 War of Independence, outside Beersheba.

Monument to the Negev Brigade in the 1948 War of Independence, outside Beersheba.

Monument to the Negev Brigade in the 1948 War of Independence, outside Beersheba.

An Iraqi Air Force Captain flew this Mig-21 to Israel in 1966, defecting to Israel. It was a pretty big deal at the time, giving Israel (and probably the U.S.) access to an operational Mig fighter.

In 1989 a Syrian pilot defected to Israel and brought this Soviet Mig-23 with him. It was the first defection of an Arab pilot since the Mig-21 in 1966.

http://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/12/world/syrian-pilot-of-mig-23-is-said-to-defect-to-israel.html

IDF Lavi
In the 1980s, Isreal developed a fighter, the Lavi. This one, the B-2, is the second of two prototypes built and flown in 1986 and 1987. The U.S. cut off its share of the funding for the project in 1987, and it was wasn't economical for Isreal to continue development alone. In 1988, Israel ordered 60 F-16s. A third prototype, the B-3 was originally a ground testbed. It was made airworthy in 1989 and flew for a few years.

IDF Lavi
In the 1980s, Isreal developed a fighter, the Lavi. This one, the B-2, is the second of two prototypes built and flown in 1986 and 1987. The U.S. cut off its share of the funding for the project in 1987, and it was wasn't economical for Isreal to continue development alone. In 1988, Israel ordered 60 F-16s. A third prototype, the B-3 was originally a ground testbed. It was made airworthy in 1989 and flew for a few years.

This balloon was flying near the Gaza Strip. It is apparently used for radar and video surveillance of the border.

This was also monitoring movement near Gaza.

Rutenberg power plant, near Ashkelon, Israel.
This view is looking across the corner of the Gaza Strip. The plant is on the shore of the Mediterranean. Occasionally, some Palestinians take pot shots at this plant, even though that's where the majority of electricity in the Gaza Strip comes from.

This view is from about 200 yards outside the Gaza Strip. You can see the Israeli IDF vehicle in the foreground. The area with the trees is in Israel outside Gaza.

Some of these were patrolling outside the Gaza Strip. We apparently got to close and they asked us to leave, but they were nice about it.

Yad Mordehai School
They built this roof for protection against Palestinian rocket attacks. The Gaza strip is two miles away.

Yad Mordehai
The statue is Mordechai Anielewicz, the commander of the Jewish resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto in World War II. Behind him is the town's water tower that was destroyed in the Israeli War of Independence in 1948. There was a 2-day battle here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Yad_Mordechai

Yad Mordehai Water Tower

Yad Mordehai
Cathy coming out of the bomb shelter.

Rina, Cathy, and Yuval

Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum. The French translation of this (from Hebrew) seems a lot more direct. The English seems a little watered down.

Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum. The French translation of this (from Hebrew) seems a lot more direct. The English seems a little watered down.

Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial, Star of David (Partisan Memorial)

Yad Vashem - This railroad car was used in World War II in Poland to transport Jews to death camps. About 3 million Jews from Poland were killed in World War II, around 90% of the Jews and 10% of the people in Poland.