The Splendour of Israel [antikvár]

ArrivalWhen the plane touches down at Ben Gurion Airport some of the passengers break into spontaneous applause. When they disembark into that humid, hothouse heat some kneel down and kiss the earth.It is a mixed collection of travellers; tourists making for the sundrenched beaches and magical underwater world of Eilat; archaeologists bound for one of the many digs in this most historic of countries; young people eager for their first taste of life on a kibbutz; slightly nervous middle-aged couples visiting relatives they may not have seen for a decade or more; whole families, from grandmothers to babes-in-arms, about to start a completely new life in what they have always known to be their homeland.By the time passport control, security checks and all the other formalities are finished It is growing dark, and by the time we are speeding towards Jerusalem it is night. The car's headlights show a motorway which, apart from the roadsigns In Hebrew and Arabic, could be anywhere in Europe - France, Germany, the UnitedTop pictures: a Bedouin in Eilat (remaining pictures), Israel's southernmost port. Overlooked by the rugged mountains of Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the Sinai, with its shores washed by the warm blue waters of the Red Sea, Eilat is also one of the country's most exciting and popular holiday resorts.Kingdom. Like all Israelis, our driver Is exuberantly welcoming, eager to start showing off the wonders of his country at once.'That's Samson's village over there ' he gestures into the darkness. And, later, 'Abraham was born down in that valley ' and when we reach Jerusalem (higher, cooler) he insists we first admire the great modern buildings, the Hebrew University and the Knesset, Israel's parliament outside which a flame burns constantly in honour of the country's soldiers dead in various wars.Thus, within an hour or so of arrival, the visitor is bombarded with the complexities and contrasts of a country which has many layers, which is as ancient as the rocks of Masada and as modern as the jets which fly overhead. The crowded, bustling markets and multi-