Notes From The Israeli - Syrian Border

It may seem foolish to pick up a plain clothes hitchhiker with a military automatic weapon in his hand but that’s just what we did. We, was me and Peter, a Dutch man nearly the same age as myself that I had recently met. He had just rented a car and invited me to join him for a drive around the Golan Heights in a region north of the Sea of Galilee.

The young man we had just picked up is a soldier in the Golani Brigade, an elite branch of the Israeli army. He was trying to get back to his post on the Israeli/Syrian border after having some time off. His English name is Jacob.

Peter joked that we were going to Syria and Jacob quickly informed us that there was a war going on. I let Jacob in on the joke before real conversation began. From that point Peter and I had all kinds of questions as we took brief stops to take photos of relics of wars past, overgrown bunkers, an abandoned mosque, and a monument.

We offered to take Jacob to wherever he needed to go. In return he offered to show us an old abandoned lookout from the 1973 Yom Kippur war near his current post.

The lookout was very interesting with Syrian border extremely close. A string of villages now occupied by rebel forces were only a mile away as a crow flies. A tall sturdy tight mesh like metal fence backed by a thin strip of land to act as a buffer creates the border. We asked Jacob if it was safe for us to be there and he said it was. Peter and I thus ran around taking pictures of the border, bunker and an old tank. Jacob took the time to change into his official uniform and made a couple of calls from his cell phone.

Jacob’s post sits on a hill overlooking the area that we had stopped. While he was on the phone he asked his commander if it would be ok for us to visit the base.  Remarkably we were granted permission. It was very rare and lucky opportunity. Good timing I suppose. Jacob was very appreciative of helping him get back to his post and commented, “You help me, I help you”.

As we neared the post in Peter’s dorky red rental Fiat two Army vehicles raced down and blocked our way. They wanted to know why we were taking pictures at the abandoned bunker and border. Once they saw Jacob in the backseat he explained that everything was fine. A little further up we met the gate and entered the mountain top Golani Brigade compound.

At that point it was kind of surreal and I felt like a Journalist as we were introduced to several soldiers. An American named Harrison from Philadelphia with dual Israeli/American citizenship and serving in the Israeli Army was assigned to shows us around. We were welcome but pictures were not allowed. It was the real deal.

Harrison first told us about the current conflict just over the border where a lot of the fighting is going on at night. The Rebels have currently pushed the Syrian Army north and have taken hold of several villages. Most all of the civilians have fled. At night the Israeli soldiers can see, hear, and feel the fighting but are not attacked. On a couple of occasions when artillery has fallen close to their base apologies were immediately issued by Syrian forces with the incidents claimed to be accidental. Syrian fighters are afraid that if the Israeli army is convinced they are being attacked that they will call in the Air Force which would be bad for all those on the Syrian side. Israeli forces are instructed not to fire unless being fired upon.

Harrison took us to the lookout tower were I was allowed to look over the border with high power field glasses. I could see bombed out buildings with hardly anyone about. I did see one person walking around and what appeared to be a kid on bike. It all looked very spooky.

We were shown some of their weapons including different guns and a rocket launcher, etc. During that time I met a Nigerian and a Russian, both serving in the Israeli Golani Brigade.

I was impressed by Harrison who was very articulate and professional with a charisma and maturity that comes out of leaving the comfort and safety America to stand up for something he really believes in. A rare trait.

Jacob had asked me if I supported the Israeli Army because a lot of Americans don’t. Harrison explained the moral code of the Israeli Army. He along with a couple of other soldiers voiced their disappointment of how they are at times negatively portrayed in the news. One voiced his frustration of having to endure more danger than they should have to in order to uphold the moral code. I told Jacob that I supported the Israeli Army. 

The situation in Israel, as everyone says, is complicated. My feeling is that without the presence of a strong Israeli Army there would be a loss of order and a greater instability to the Middle East with no safe place for the Jewish people in the region. Today, Israel does not get the kind of allied support that it use to. In my opinion, if Israel were to fall tomorrow, the world would not be a better place.

Towards the end of our visit Harrison tactfully explained the duty of one Soldier's responsibility at the base of boosting moral and said that anything we could do to help would be greatly appreciated. I got the hint right away and said we would be happy to make a donation for the next party. With that we wrapped up the tour and Harrison made it a point to mention how lucky we were to get in. He said the week prior that a former Israeli Air Force Officer and an Oxford Professor were turned away and not allowed entry.

In the end I was very impressed by the troops and their post. I could sense the camaraderie and see an element of what comes out of necessity and not just by choice. It is a requirement of Israeli’s to serve in the Army and almost all do without question because they know it’s vital to their sovereignty and independence as a Nation. It’s not all about self. It’s about society as a whole.