As Jim Shepherd mentioned last week, I just returned from an intensive week-long visit to Israel courtesy of Newsmax Media. I am a Newsmax contributor and have known the company’s founder, Chris Ruddy, for more than a decade. There were 45 of us in the group and, if you follow Newsmax, you may have seen some familiar faces like Carl Higbie, John Huddy, John Burnett, Alan Dershowitz and the “Wise Guy”, John Tabacco, reporting from Israel during the last week.

During our trip, we traveled from the border with Gaza in the Western Negev desert all the way up to the Golan Heights and the border with Lebanon and Syria. Jerusalem was our home base, and we also visited the Old City and several holy sites including the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, where Jesus Christ was crucified, buried and resurrected.

We were able to meet with Israel’s senior leaders including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog, Speaker of the Knesset Amir Ohana, Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Sa'ar, and the former Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem Fleur Hassan-Nahoum. The US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, also met with us. Plenty of questions were asked and answered, sometimes “off the record”, but always honestly.

Here is the bottom line up front (BLUF), at least from my perspective:

Israel’s battle against fanatical terrorism is not just a regional conflict, it is a clash of civilizations. It is a battle between a diverse and inclusive democracy that cherishes life (Israel) and a culture of death (Hamas, Hezbollah and the Mullahs in Iran)) that seeks domination and the elimination of the entire Jewish state “from the river (the Jordan River) to the sea (the Mediterranean).” A society that values life simply cannot coexist with terrorists who raise their children to become Shahids (martyrs) in their Jihad (Holy War) against the unbelievers. The unbelievers include the Christian and Druze population of Israel, not just the Jews.

Sunflowers bloom (top) on the Israeli side of the border. On the Gaza side (bottom), residents have learned the meaning of FAFO.

Israelis are united in their desire to return ALL the hostages. There will be no peace until they are released, and Hamas is defeated. Israel is a diverse, politically divided society. Not everyone likes Prime Minister Netanyahu or his conduct of the war. However, the desire to have all the hostages freed is universal. The reason is simple: every Israeli identifies with the hostages. They realize that any of the hostages could be themselves or their children. Israel is a small country of 10 million people with strong familial ties. Everyone has a friend, or a friend of a friend, directly affected by the hostage crisis.

At the site of the Nova musical festival, now covered with makeshift memorials to the almost 400 civilians and police officers killed there, Hila Abir told us the story of her younger brother Lotan. Outgoing Israeli artillery fire kept interrupting her (top). Lotan was killed along with his childhood friend May Naim (bottom) who clung to him as they were shot to death inside a bomb shelter. Lotan was a dual American-Israeli citizen and had been living in Utah.

Israel wants peace with its neighbors and an end to the ongoing conflict. Israel does not have a full-time professional military like we have in the United States. Their army is one of conscripts, reservists and military veterans called back into service whenever a crisis occurs. A relatively small number of the IDF, including pilots and specialized commando units, are career soldiers. The current battle in Gaza will soon mark its second anniversary. It has placed a strain on the economy. Many military reservists have spent over a year fighting in Gaza. Those that ran small businesses in civilian life have seen them collapse in their absence. Families are also under enormous pressure. Everyone wants their father, their mother, their brother/sister or their son/daughter back from the war.

Despite being war-weary, Israelis continue to live their lives and be happy. Nobody in Israel is paralyzed with fear. Life goes on and Israelis continue to celebrate it. I was pleasantly surprised to find so many young families, sometimes with four, five or even six children in tow, walking the streets, enjoying Jerusalem’s beautiful parks, touring the Old City on Friday, dining in restaurants, and worshiping in large numbers during Shabat (Friday evening to Saturday evening).

This is just one home being rebuilt at Kibbutz Nahal Oz, just over the Gaza border. The homes were shot up and many were burned as terrorists attempted to "smoke out" those hiding in safe rooms. 15 civilians and 60 soldiers were killed at the kibbutz and at the nearby IDF outpost. Several were dragged into Gaza, some dead and some alive.

Israel’s kibbutzes (communal farming villages) and frontier towns, many located on the country’s borders, are still recovering. However, they are still vulnerable to terrorist infiltrators. We visited several on the borders with Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria. Although Hezbollah and Hamas have been seriously degraded, those in remote areas of the country are still rebuilding, repopulating and recovering emotionally and physically from the enormous loss of life on October 7th and beyond. That includes the Druze community of Majdal Shams that lost 12 innocent children, playing on a soccer field, to a Hezbollah rocket attack on July 27, 2024. The IDF has recognized the intelligence and security shortcomings on both borders and has beefed up their surveillance and defenses considerably.

Finally, if you have ever wanted to visit Israel, now is the time to go. Israel’s enemies are on the ropes. Iran’s nuclear and conventional military capabilities have been seriously degraded. Syria’s air force and air defense systems have been demolished. Huge terrorist weapons caches in both Lebanon and Syria have been destroyed. Hezbollah’s senior leadership has been decapitated (figuratively, and in some cases, literally). Hamas is cornered, fighting for its survival. The Palestinian Authority on the West Bank is very well-behaved, not wanting to incur the wrath of the IDF. I felt perfectly safe walking the streets of Jerusalem, by myself, anytime of the day or night. The Old City, filled with incredible religious sites, is desperate for tourism and there are no lines to get in anywhere.

The last of the Henry caps donated by Henry’s Anthony Imperato went to our private security detail. One was a former IDF paratrooper, and the other served in the famed Givati brigade. They were armed and brought along well-stocked medical kits. Luckily, it was a very boring assignment for them.

This was not your typical post on The Outdoor Wire. However, as Jim Shepherd said, we try to keep you posted. Israel’s survival is tied to our own. That is worth posting about.

— Raul Mas

Raul Mas is the editor of The Outdoor Wire Español, our Spanish language edition.