The Aircraft Trail Around Eitanim

A few weeks ago Mister Handmade in Israel and I went for a short hike along the Nahal Yitla trail in the Har Haruach ('The Mountain of Wind') National Park. The park is situated on the slopes of the Judaean Hills and we realised that, even in the height of summer, the weather was, well, bearable up there. So, every week since then, until the current lockdown, I have been searching for hiking routes in the Jerusalem Hills*. The views have been spectacular!

My first pick, the Aircraft Trail around Mount Eitanim, encircles the summit of Dayr 'Amr and the site of the Eitanim Mental Health Centre. Dayr 'Amr was a tiny Arab village where a handful of people lived until Israel's War of Independence. It was named after a local sage known as Amr the Messenger, al-Sa'i 'Amr, the messenger of Umar Ibn al-Khattab, who conquered Jerusalem in the 7th century CE. Local tradition links the village to Sheikh Hussein, who was also known as Abu al-Armala ("father of the widow") as he was a renowned patron of widows and orphans. In 1940 the Arab Higher Committee initiated the establishment, at the top of Mount Eitanim, of an educational institution where students - most of whom were orphans whose fathers had been killed in the Arab Revolt of 1936-1939 - could combine study with farming. Slightly later on work was also begun on a school for girls. In 1950 the buildings of the boys' farm were transformed into a hospital for people with tuberculosis, becoming a Mental Health Centre in 1952. The Bezeq telephone and television company has also established a large facility, with radar equipment, near to the summit of the hill.

Mount Eitanim towers 776 metres above sea level and, after just a couple of minutes walking the trail, the magnificent landscape of the Jerusalem Hills came into view. Terraced slopes, cisterns and the remains of small buildings from the village of Dayr 'Amr were all visible below the trail. Large cypress and carob trees grow among the houses.

We turned left on to a stepped trail that climbs slightly, passing an assortment of native woodland trees including Israeli oak (Quercus calliprinos), Palestine pistachio (Pistacia palaestina, also known as Terebinth) and a large numbers of Greek strawberry trees (Arbutus andrachne). We stopped for breakfast at a large terrace which looked different to the other terraces we had already passed along the way. It is thought to have been built in the 1950s by new immigrants employed in work on national projects. 

Opposite us were the southern slopes of Givat Yearim ("Forest Hill") - a good point to understand the reason behind the naming of the trail as the "Aircraft Trail". In early May 1948, just a few days before the State of Israel was declared, Jewish forces attempted to force a way through to Jerusalem, which had been under Arab siege for months. To step up the pressure, a decision was taken to bomb Arab positions in the area of Bayt Mahsir (today Beit Meir), which was situated on a cliff overlooking the highway. On 10th May, a Norseman aircraft was dispatched to carry out the bombing raid. Its captain was a former British Royal Air Force pilot and the co-pilot was commander of Sde Dov Airport at the time. When the plane reached the area of Bayt Mahsir the co-pilot announced over the radio: "We've identified the target, we're going down to bomb." After that all contact with him was lost and the plane disappeared with all its crew.

Amid the turmoil of battle there was no time to look for the remains of the plane. The principal of the orphanage at Dayr 'Amr, Ahmad Sameh Al-Khalidi, had been too ill to flee together with the other residents of the village and farm. He led an intelligence officer of the Harel Brigade's 6th Battalion to the spot where the plane had crashed but the bodies were not found until some time later. Following instructions from members of a Khirbat al-Jab'a family (Moshav Givat Yearim now occupies the site of this vanished village), the officer arrived at a cave where the remains of the plane's crew had been placed. They were removed and taken for burial at Kibbutz Kiryat Anavim. Today the cave no longer exists. Part of the plane's engine was found and laid at the main Air Force memorial site on Har HaTayyasim ("Pilots' Hill"), our next port of call. Another section of it was placed in the garden at Moshav Givat Yearim.

Har HaTayyasim is also located in the Jerusalem hills and at its summit rises to 796 metres above sea level. Towards the top of the mountain is the official memorial site of the Israel Air Force. The site originally honoured the air force pilots whose plane crashed on the slopes of Mount Eitanim. A monument is built of Jerusalem stone and the upper part of it is the plane engine from the crash with a curved propeller. 

Nearby several columns have been erected on which the names of all fallen Air Force personnel are inscribed on glass, arranged chronologically according to the year of death. An additional column displays a single word "Yizkor", "Remember". The plaza with the engine symbol dates back to the early 1950s, while this memorial was erected later. The Israel Air Force's annual memorial ceremony is held here. 

Har HaTayyasim is carefully maintained and is a lovely area to explore. From a gorgeous lookout point the panoramic views of the surrounding countryside and mountain ranges were spectacular. (See photos below) The top of this mountain is actually part of a 450 dunam nature reserve. In the spring 10 different species of orchid can be spotted. A hiking trail passing ancient agricultural terraces leads from the monument to Ein Tayyasim (Pilots' Spring) but it includes a steep climb and Mister Handmade in Israel and I were done for the day. It's always good to have a reason to go back!

* The northern section of the Judaean Hills is referred to as the Jerusalem Hills, and the southern one as the Hebron Hills.

**This post has been shared on The Good. The Random. The Fun., Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday), Sharon's Souvenirs, Tuesday's Treasures, Our World Tuesday, Pictorial Tuesday, My Corner of the World and All Seasons.