Israel Shapira Sees West Bank Sites Flourish as the Galilee Falters

Israel Shapira says he returned from a packed tour of the West Bank with a sense of discovery and renewal, describing another bathing site as “redeemed” after hours earlier swimming in the impressive Herod's Pool. On the way back, his navigation app routed him through Wadi Haramia on Highway 465, long known as the “thieves’ valley,” but he says the road now felt transformed, with Israeli flags visible at a central junction near the turns to Ramallah and Rawabi.

Shapira argues that places he once saw as abandoned Palestinian-controlled areas are now empty of their former users, while Jewish farmers and youths are working the land instead. He also highlighted Nahal Og, where, he said, Jews now come to swim, and visited Ein al-Fauqa and Ein al-Tahta, springs he said were effectively “abroad” for Israelis until October 7.

He framed the change as historical reversal, invoking the 1837 earthquake that destroyed Safed and Tiberias and led, in the words of scholars of the time, to “the destruction of the Galilee” and the strengthening of Jerusalem. Nearly 200 years later, he suggested, the same pattern is repeating, with the historical heart of the land flourishing while its north is being devastated.

Shapira, who coordinates a Ministry of Education touring course for the Haredi sector through the Lishmorah association, said recent excursions in the Upper Galilee have been repeatedly postponed because of Hezbollah drones. He said the ministry cannot tour most Upper Galilee trails, Kiryat Shmona and many border communities are partly or entirely empty, and the area near the border is deserted just a couple of kilometers beyond Miron.

He also described trying to reach a British-era well near Yiron, only to find it nearly covered by fig trees after two and a half years of neglect. While he welcomes the feeling of safety on Highway 465, he says readers should still remember “the destruction of the Galilee.”