Sunday, October 27

Day 1: DEPARTURE

• Depart the United States

Monday, October 28

Day 2: ARRIVAL IN ISRAEL

• Arrive at Ben Gurion Airport.
• Arrival assistance.
• Drive along the coast to Haifa.
• Stop behind the Dan Carmel Hotel for a welcome ceremony overlooking the Haifa Bay.
• Check in to the Dan Carmel Hotel.
• Festive Mission Opening Dinner at the Dan Carmel Hotel, with representatives of the Western Galilee Partnership Region.
• Overnight: Dan Carmel Hotel, Haifa

Tuesday, October 29

Day 3: AUSTIN – WESTERN GALILEE PARTNERSHIP

• Breakfast at the hotel and check out.
• Full morning with the Partnership.
• Lunch with the Partnership.
• Depart hotel for Givat Haviva.
• Israel’s Arab Citizens After October 7: Where do We Stand, with Mohammad Darawshe, director of the Givat Haviva Center for Shared Society.
• Continue to the Tel Aviv Museum Plaza, now renamed Hostage Square, which is the focal point of the family’s efforts to BRING THEM HOME, including a conversation with a hostage family.
• Continue to the Carlton Hotel and check-in.
• Free evening with dinner on your own.
• Overnight: Carlton Hotel, Tel Aviv

Wednesday, October 30

Day 4: THE HORRORS OF OCTOBER 7

• Early breakfast at the hotel.
• Depart hotel for the South.
• Agricultural volunteering at a Southern kibbutz.
• Drive to Sderot.
• Tour of the town of Sderot, a symbol of Israel’ s longstanding conflict with Hamas, stopping at the once-famous-now-demolished police station.
• Lunch on own.
• Visit Kibbutz Kfar Aza, one of the kibbutzim that was brutally attacked by Hamas on October 7.
• Stop and pay tribute at the site of the Nova Festival at Re’im Park.
• Drive to Laqiya, a Bedouin town.
• Short tour of Laqiya by one of the locals.
• Bedouin Society and October 7:  Leadership and Coping during Crisis with Desert Stars.
• Traditional Bedouin Dinner and home-hospitality.
• Return to the hotel.
• Overnight: Carlton Hotel, Tel Aviv

Thursday, October 31

Day 5: DAILY LIFE AND THE MEMORY OF OCTOBER 7

Friday, November 1

Day 6: EREV SHABBAT

Saturday, November 2

Day 7: SHABBAT IN JERUSALEM + DEPARTURE

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Optional Shabbat services.
• Optional walk into the Old City of Jerusalem.
• Shabbat lunch at the hotel, in the main dining room.
• Afternoon Options
  • The Poet and the Windmill – Guided walk to the Montefiore Windmill and Yemin Moshe using the Poetry of Yehuda Amichai as a guide, while exploring the first neighborhood built outside the Old City’s Walls.
  • The German Colony of Jerusalem – Walk through the German Colony, built by the German Templars in the late 1800s, with their unique buildings and stories that have become part of Jerusalem’s lore.
  • Independent option: The New Israel Museum – Visit the newly renovated Israel Museum, its large-scale Model of Ancient Jerusalem during the days of the Second Temple and the Dead Sea Scrolls, followed by an opportunity to visit the Jewish Life and Living, Archaeology, Israeli Art and Design exhibits and much more.
• Free time for rest and relaxation.
• Havdalah overlooking the Old City.
• Check-out of the hotel.
• Wrap-up conversation and closing dinner at a Jerusalem restaurant.
• Depart for Ben Gurion Airport.
• Overnight: In flight

Sunday, November 3

Day 8: ARRIVE BACK HOME

• Return flight to the United States.