Prague Journal

Tuesday, April 12, 2005.

We left this morning for a drive nearly the length of the country, through the Negev Desert to Eilat, Israel’s southernmost town. Eilat is a port on the Red Sea’s Gulf of Aqaba, between the borders of Egypt and Jordan. The history of Eilat is rich given its location on the land route of armies and pilgrims passing between Africa, Europe, and Asia. In the 10th century BC, during King Solomon’s reign, the port of Etzion Geber was built in the area. During the European military expeditions known as the Crusades, Christians took control of the area. In the 1160s, Muslim military leader Saladin seized the region. In subsequent years the port declined. In 1906, the British established a military post called Umm Rashrash in what is now Eilat. In 1922 the area became part of the British mandate over Palestine, which lasted until Israel was created in 1948. Following the 1956 Sinai War with Egypt, Israel started to develop the port of Eilat and officially established the city in 1959.
Eilat is Israel’s only outlet to the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. Israel created an important naval base in Eilat to protect Israeli shipping interests. In 1967 Egypt’s president Nasser blocked the entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba, called the Strait of Tiran. This blocked all shipping to and from Eilat. This blockade was one of the factors that led to the 1967 Six-Day War. A peace treaty was signed between Israel and Egypt in 1979, and between Israel and Jordan in 1994. These developments have generated joint Egyptian-Israeli-Jordanian talks concerning environmental and commercial cooperation in the area of Eilat. Israel designated Eilat as a free trade zone in 1985, eliminating to a great extent taxation on production and commerce, in order to stimulate economic activity.
I had never been in Eilat before, but Rick visited there in 1964 with his good friend Ed Scholes. At that time Eilat was a sleepy little town, with no big hotels or tourist attractions. Now, Eilat is mainly known as a resort town, although tourism has suffered over the last four years – as it has throughout the country – since the Intifada, the Palestinian terrorist attacks that began in September 2000. Just this year has tourism started to pick up, largely due to the fence which has not only reduced terrorist attacks, but also has eliminated horse and car thefts.
The drive to Eilat took us through Qiryat Gat to Beersheva where we stopped for a light lunch at a large shopping mall. We then continued to Mitzpe Ramon, and stopped at the former residence and burial place of Israel’s first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion and his wife Paula. Ben-Gurion championed the settlement of the Negev Desert and practiced what he preached. In 1953 he and Paula were accepted as members of Kibbutz Sde Boker and in 1963 the then-former Prime Minister and his wife made their permanent home in a modest cabin at the kibbutz. World leaders who visited Ben-Gurion in his residence were amazed to see the famous man living in such humble surroundings. Today this cabin houses a museum in memory of the Prime Minister, administered by the Ben-Gurion Research Center. The gravesites are at the edge of a cliff overlooking the stunning landscape of the Zin Valley and the Avdat Plain. The paths from the parking area to the gravesites lead through a landscaped garden with plants which successfully adapted to the dry and saline desert conditions.
We arrived at the Ambassador Hotel, owned and operated since 1996 by Ray and Helen’s friend Gadi Ben Zeev. The Ambassador Hotel is located right on the beach, and Ray requested a room with a view of the Red Sea. Gadi and his wife Yona greeted us after dinner and invited us to an art show, a display of sculptures by a friend and local artist.

posted by JWinn @ 10:42 PM