Israeli Soldiers

Israeli Soldiers

In Israel, Jewish Israeli soldiers guard Jewish sites like the Wailing Wall, while Arab Catholic and Arab Orthodox Israeli soldiers guard Islamic sites like the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. (All able-bodied Israeli men and women are required to serve as soldiers for 3 years and 2 years, respectively, in the Israeli Defense Force (IDF)).

I came across and chatted with these two Israeli soldiers one night, and then ran into them again just inside the Damascus Gate. This shot was taken just before they broke into grins upon recognizing the person calling out to them from behind a camera.

Security is taken seriously in Israel, especially in Jerusalem. The steel chamber below for isolating suspicious objects was installed in the Wailing Wall plaza shortly after my arrival in Jerusalem (no correlation, of course).

Also installed down the middle of the plaza were explosion-absorbing vertical partitions so that in case something detonated, half of the plaza will be spared.

WWhen I knocked on the steel chamber, it didn't sound hollow at all, so its wall must have been pretty thick, and understandably so. Given how nonchalant the locals were about the chamber and the vertical partitions, I suspected that their presence in the plaza mirrors the rise and fall of the prevailing political and religious tensions in Israel.

Travel Tip
If violence does flare up during your visit to Israel, it wouldn't be a bad idea to avoid crowded places, which the bombers would target.

And be advised that machine guns are everywhere in Israel. The soldiers carry guns both on and off duty and many civilians carry guns too. It's common to see men taking their wives and children for leisurely sunset strolls with Uzi sub-machine guns slung over their shoulders, or a group of teenagers out for an evening with M16s slung over theirs (one such group of boys told me that they are not allowed to drink alcohol when out with their guns).

The ubiquity of guns with live ammunition clips may be unsettling at first, but you'll get used to it after a few days... well, sort of.