Day 9: Goodbye Holy City; Hello terrorist weaponry

The last 4 days in Jerusalem have been some of the most unforgettable of my life. Biblical sites, political sites, markets, light shows, archeological excavations, local dinners, and much much more. Today, however, it was time to roll out and continue on our journey through the whole country. We headed west. After visiting one last site in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City in Jerusalem, we departed on a bus ride all the way across the country to the west cost. It took 55 minutes. Ya, this country is that small. It’s the size of New Jersey.

With unknowing excitement, we rolled through the gates of an IDF (Israeli Defense Force) around noon. A few things that you notice when arriving on an IDF base for the first time- 1) Most of the soldiers are younger than me. 2) It is pretty laid back. 3) There’s a ton of old weapons displayed around the premises.

Israel Fact # 20: Israel has a conscription policy- meaning, all high school graduates, both men and women, serve a 3 year stint in the army before college. They then serve in the reserves until the age of 40. Why, you ask? There’s really no other choice. With a population of only 7 million and pressing military threats on most of their boarders, the army needs all the resources it can get. If you didn’t know, the IDF is one of the most powerful militaries in the world, despite its size. It is by far the most dynamic and innovative.

Once at the base, we were given an introduction to the unit’s functionality- something I’ll not disclose here, and then we were taken into a back room… Walking in, our group of 40 students crammed into a fairly small room filled with weaponry. Knives, guns, rockets, bombs, etc. All decommissioned of course. The first stack of material that caught my eye was a shelf of knives, clubs, and daggers. I thought to myself, ‘why would they have little dinky weapons (comparatively) in here with all of these machine guns and explosives?’

Ever heard of the ‘Flotilla Incident?’ Seen that video? Most of the world has. The soldier-guide told us a few thing about that incident. Sad things. First of all, the men who were delivering ‘humanitarian aid’ to Gaza were jihadist terrorists (you probably knew that). What I didn’t know- they were ‘high’ on heroine. Think the same strategy used by the sick-o prostitute traders depicted in the movie “Taken.” It is legitimately heartbreaking to think how demonic the evil has manifested that would drive men to blow themselves up in the name of holy war..hole ‘nother subject for another time.

So on that video, the IDF soldiers were attacked with knives, clubs, and daggers, etc. The ‘dinky’ weapons that I was looking at and touching were the actual weapons used on the Flotilla. (heart beating fast now, eyes wide). Seriously. That’s nuts- talk about taking something that normally seems half-a-world away and putting touch and sight to. These soldiers who we were interacting with are actually on the front lines of the war against terrorism. Now not to belittle anything that our American Troops are doing in Afghanistan, Iraq, etc, but these guys are really on the front lines. They sit on the boarders that are constantly being attacked by suicide murderers. And they just graduated high school. How’s that for a graduation present?

Israel Fact #21: Terrorists from Hamas and Hezbollah along with other organizations disguise bombs inside of everyday devices in order to blow up as many ‘Infidels’ as possible at random. Depicted is a chicken feeder outfitted with a bomb. Think for a second about an innocent child walking out to refill the chicken feed for his morning chores….

Israel Fact #22: Hamas, the reigning terrorist organization in Gaza, stashes weapons and terrorist cells in and around hospitals, elementary schools, and neighborhood areas. This is in order to make it nearly impossible for the IDF to take out the terrorists without injuring innocent women and children. Notice one of the rockets in the right of the picture. It is covered in kindergarten-looking colors and famous celebrities in the Palestinian culture. These rockets were found stashed in an elementary school classroom and were painted in order to look like toys to the children. Think about it. Side note- these are examples of the thousands of rockets launched into southern towns in Israel for around 8 years starting in 2000.

On a lighter note- post IDF base, we headed to visit Better Place, an fascinating start-up EV car company. My business juices were flowing even before arriving , but driving the cars for myself and leaning a bit more about the business plan far exceeded my expectations- common theme of the trip. This company plans to change the way the world transportation system works. It claims to be changing the entire country of Israel to electric powered car use in the next 10 years. Quote me on this in ten years- I believe them. So cool. Israel’s entrepreneurial and innovative genius is bar-none the most miraculous in the world. If you have any interest in business or entrepreneurship go buy “Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle” By Dan Senor and Saul Singer.

Now snoozing up in Tel Aviv- the modern, progressive business hub on the Mediterranean- where we grabbed a quick swim and talked with some Israeli families on the beach this afternoon. Full from a ritzy dinner capped with a lecture on the demographics and political situation of Israel today. Looking at the schedule for tomorrow, if I thought that the IDF base was intense today, the morning will crank up the heat at a whole other level….