Galilee

Several millennia of historic sites are squeezed between the Sea of Galilee and the Mediterranean. Jesus wandered, preached, and fashioned miracles, and Jewish mystics wrote the classics of the Kabbala in these forested hills. More recently, the majestic scenery has witnessed attacks on Israel from its neighbors: first the Syrians from the Golan Heights, then the PLO from southern Lebanon, and lately the Shi’ite fundamentalist Party of God (Hizballah), again from southern Lebanon.

The Israelis, to be sure, never sit idle: in 1967 they captured the Golan Heights, in 1982 they invaded Lebanon (and stayed there for over five years), and in July 1993 they launched a massive attack in southern Lebanon in an attempt to stop katyusha rockets from falling on their northern settlements. While periodical tension and attacks usually ;iffect only areas immediately near the Lebanese border, it is a good idea to get the latest information before heading out to the Kiryat Shmona area. Other places in the Galilee should be perfectly safe.