Nature Israel Leadership Mission | September 2024

Activities:

• Arrive at Ben Gurion Airport - Your VIP fast-track assistant will greet you after deplaning. After helping with arrival procedures, you will be taken to meet your driver for a private transfer to your hotel in Jerusalem.

• Transfer to Jerusalem & check-in to the hotel. - Please note: check-in time is after 3:00 PM. Those who arrive early can leave their luggage at the hotel's storage room.

• Tour and Welcome Reception at the Gottesman Family Jerusalem Aquarium - Enjoy a guided tour of Jerusalem’s new aquarium and a special briefing on SPNI’s “Blue Half” Marine Conservation Project.

• Welcome Dinner with SPNI Senior Leadership

• The Orient, Jerusalem

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel.

• Live bird banding at the Nili and David Jerusalem Bird Observatory - Discover how 1.5 acres of wild growth next to Israel’s Parliament Building is a thriving community conservation site attracting tens of thousands of avian and human visitors annually. This Friday morning, amid birdsongs, get up close to tiny migrating birds as they are banded before continuing their journey south.

• Guided Tour of Gazelle Valley Park - One hundred fifty indigenous endangered gazelles roam freely in this urban oasis. SPNI’s Director of Urban Nature, Amir Balaban, will review the park’s origin, its nature-based water management systems, and why urban nature is so important. You’ll see the newly opened visitor’s center and enjoy a picnic lunch in the park.

• Picnic lunch at the Gazelle Valley Park.

• Free Afternoon

• Shabbat Friday Night Dinner as a Group

• The Orient, Jerusalem

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel.

• Spend Shabbat at leisure or join us to tour Jerusalem's Old City in the morning or Jerusalem Hills in the afternoon.

• Optional: Multicultural tour of Jerusalem Old City - Meet the people and places that make this place so unique. In the Jewish Quarter, uncover the layers of Jewish history from the time of the First Temple until the present day. In the Christian Quarter, visit the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, and, if conditions permit, visit one of the holiest Muslim sites, the Temple Mount. Throughout the tour explore the complexity of a city that is holy to the three major religions - Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

• Authentic Lunch at the Arab Market.

• Afternoon - Free Time OR Hike in Jerusalem Hills - Explore the Jerusalem Hills at the beautiful Sataf forest for a hike through the area. The Sataf is on the site of ancient agricultural terraces that date to the time of the ancient Israelites. Walk between the green trail, see the ancient water channels, and explore the local Israeli trees, such as olive, fig, almond, and pomegranate. Along the way - forage for edible plants.

• Free Evening and dinner on your own - Meal and transportation aren't included.

• The Orient, Jerusalem

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel.

• Check-out from the hotel and depart to the Dead Sea area

• Dead Sea Boat Ride - Learn about the Dead Sea’s ecosystem and environmental struggles on an exclusive boat ride on the Dead Sea; during this unique voyage, you will see a captivating salt-chimney forest., wondrous muds, salt pearls, salt diamonds and sinkholes filled with sweet water.

• Summary of Nature Heals Program at SPNI’s Ein Gedi Field School - Tour the campus and the renovated rooms; hear about the programs that take place here and how SPNI responded to the events of October 7: housing the evacuees with love, creating a “pop-up” elementary school for the Ministry of Education, and showing displaced Israeli teens the healing power of nature.

• Lunch at Field School.

• Travel north through the Jordan Valley.

• Start-Up Nature Tour of Kibbutz Kfar Ruppin Rewilded Wetlands - Visit SPNI’s flagship rewilded wetlands site at Kibbutz Kfar Ruppin - SPNI’s most ambitious initiative – to create an artificial wetland to support mass bird migration and global biodiversity. See the original pond on the banks of the Jordan River, the new pools being rewilded, and the impressive tourism and education infrastructure on site. Will a cross-border partnership with Jordan be next?

• Continue north and check-in to the hotel.

• Dinner at Hotel.

• Pastoral Kfar Blum Hotel

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel

• Morning Hike on Mt. Meron - Visit historic Mt. Meron for an easy hike on the mountain, and visit the new Hiking Hub at SPNI’s Har Meron Field School, an innovative and comfortable facility for backpackers, built thanks to the generosity of the Leonard and Robert Weintraub Foundation.

• Tour with the Army for the Protection of Nature - Join a special conservation tour with the Army for the Protection of Nature, a decade-long collaboration between SPNI and the IDF. We’ll meet soldiers and their commanders on their base who are committed to nature protection, even in these times.

• Lunch Break.

• Meeting SPNI’s Arab Community Education Team - Briefing and discussion with Yosef Asakla, Director of SPNI’s Arab community activities; an overview of SPNI’s nationwide educational and nature protection programs for schools and regions in Israel’s Arab sector, including Bedouin, Druze and Circassian communities.

• Dinner at Hotel.

• Pastoral Kfar Blum Hotel

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel

• Check-out from the hotel and travel to Jazreel Valley

• Making the Skies Safe for Migrating Raptors - Visit Kibbutz HaYogev to learn how SPNI and Israel Electric Company use state-of-the-art technologies and conservation techniques to mitigate the danger overhead power lines present to soaring birds.

• Travel to Haifa and Group Lunch

• Naval Nature Patrol with Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority - Come aboard this exclusive voyage on the Nature and Parks Authority's sole patrol boat. We will see how Marine Protected Areas and fishing regulations – advocated for by SPNI -- are practically enforced following our policy victories.

• Drive to Tel Aviv & Check-in

• Free evening in Tel Aviv - Dinner is not included.

• Royal Beach Hotel, Tel Aviv

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel & Drive South.

• Tour of the Gaza Envelope - Stop at key lookout points for an in-depth discussion about the complexity of rehabilitating the Gaza Border situation and the rehabilitation efforts with SPNI professionals and local residents.

• Visit to the Nova Music Festival Memorial Site - We will visit the site of the Nova Music Festival, now a memorial site, bear witness, and pay our respects to the 364 Israelis murdered by Hamas on the morning of October 7th.

• Light Lunch and drive to Sde Boker.

• Off-Road Jeep Tour in Nahal Zin - Get on board a 4x4 jeep to traverse the Negev’s longest wadi. We’ll look for endangered raptors, desert wildlife and vegetation and spy on nature at hidden oases.

• Bonfire in the Desert - Take time to process and share your memories and feelings from the last day and week at a bonfire and outdoor BBQ as the sun sets in the heart of the Negev highlands.

• Drive back to Tel Aviv.

• Royal Beach Hotel, Tel Aviv

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel

• Tel Aviv Urban Nature Tour - Visit the Rosh Tzipor bird sanctuary and enjoy a morning walk along the Yarkon River, part of the Israel National Trail. Dana Tabatchnik, Head of SPNI's River and Streams Rehabilitation Project, will update us on the ongoing struggle to clean up Israel’s rivers.

• Check-out from hotel and drive north along the coastal road.

• Official Opening of Start-Up Nature Maagan Michael Birding Sanctuary and Rewilded Wetlands - Join us to celebrate this historic moment in SPNI’s history and this significant milestone of our Start-Up Nature project. Please join us and other VIPs and dignitaries for the grand opening and tour of the Maagan Michael Birding Sanctuary and Rewilded Wetlands.

• Lunch at Maagan Michael

• Return to Tel Aviv and Free Time.

• Festive Dinner and Closing.

• Group Transfer to Ben Gurion International Airport - Fly back home.

• We Look Forward to Hosting You again in Our Beautiful Country!