• Half-day tour of the Carmel Coast with visits to Jewish, Christian, and Muslim communities.
• Tour of Zikhron Yaakov where we will learn about the Jewish immigrants who established this picturesque agricultural community in 1881.
• Visit to the Aunt Berta factory to meet with a representative of Kibbutz Beth-El, which was founded in 1963 by Christian immigrants from Germany.
• Drive to the Muslim village of Jisr-az-Zarqa, where we will meet with locals and hear about their unique community, which was brought here from Sudan in the 1830s.
• Optional: Traditional Arab lunch with freshly caught fish at additional cost. 

This half-day tour will take you to the culturally diverse coast of the Carmel Mountain range where Jews, Muslims, and Christians live together in proximity and partnership. 

This tour begins with a short drive down the coast to the Jewish town of Zikhron Yaakov.  Founded in 1881, this picturesque little town was among the first Jewish towns founded during the initial wave of immigration known as the First Aliyah. The town is famous for the Nili spy ring that played a crucial role in the British victory in World War I and for the agronomist Aharon Aharonson who discovered the “mother wheat” to which all other wheat varieties are related. Today the town has art galleries, café lined streets, and antique shops. 

While in Zikhron, we will visit the “Aunt Berta” food complex at the entrance to the town to learn about Kibbutz Beth-El. Founded in 1963 by a group of German Christians from Stuttgart led by Emma Berger, today there are over 800 members in their community. 

The members of the kibbutz are permanent residents of Israel and serve in the military in non-combat roles. They own several factories where they produce food products as well as air filtration equipment for civilian and military use. We will meet with a representative of the community and ask them to share their experience of living as a Christian minority in Israel.

From here, we will drive to the nearby coastal village of Jisr-az-Zarqa. Once the site of a Roman-era city called Crocodilopolis, today the crocodiles are long gone and the meaning of the town’s name is “Bridge over the Blue.” 

Jisr was founded by Sudanese water-buffalo herders brought here by the Egyptian ruler Ibrahim Pasha in the 1830s. Though it is the only Muslim community along Israel’s coastal belt, it is one of the poorest towns in Israel and is trying to reinvent itself through tourism. 

We will visit the bridge mentioned in the name of the village and have a cup of coffee or tea by the seashore where we will meet with locals in the small fishing harbor and ask them about the challenges that they face as non-Palestinian Muslims in Israel. 

Optional: A traditional Arabic lunch with freshly caught seafood is available at additional cost.