The class met at the Newark airport with luggage full of books related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and ideas for the class memo. After a long flight from Newark, we arrived in Israel yesterday afternoon with excitement for the trip ahead and only missing one piece of luggage that was still stuck in the United States. Upon arrival, we were able to explore Tel Aviv a bit and enjoy Israeli cuisine before returning to our hotel, conveniently located near the beach.
Despite the jetlag, we hit the ground running today with four separate meetings. First, we had the opportunity to meet with Jonathan Berger, a political officer at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv. After our visit to the U.S. Embassy, the class stopped to visit Rabin’s Memorial and grabbed lunch at a local market. After devouring hummus and other tasty foods at the market, we rushed off to Tel Aviv University where we had the chance to talk to Brig. Gen. (ret) Shlomo Brom, a senior research associate at the Institute for National Security Studies. Later, we met with Col. (ret) Eron Lerman at Bar-Ilan University. Our class fueled up on coffee and headed to our last meeting of the day was with Prof. Chuck Freilich, a Senior Fellow and Former Deputy National Security Advisory for Israel. Our meetings were largely driven by our questions and the answers were useful in developing our understanding of the conflict, specifically regarding Israeli security concerns.
After a long day of meetings, the class gravitated towards the hotel lobby and crowded on the couches to use the wifi. The class worked on the memo and went out to explore Tel Aviv at night! Overall, we have a fantastic first two days in Israel and are excited to travel to Jerusalem tomorrow!