My trip to Israel

 Dear friends,

The following is a recap of my recent trip to Israel.  Because of the people I was with and their connections it was far more than traditional tourism.  I have had a few friends ask for this recap, so I’m sending it to a bunch of you in case you are interested.  As this is a long read for an email or social media post, I’ve also read it into my podcast, so here are links to the audio version on both Apple Podcasts and Spotify.  If you are listening to the audio version, I apologize for the likely numerous mispronunciations.  Also, the written version includes links to the organizations I will mention here.  Thank you for your time and G_d bless you!

Apple Podcast – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/2025-israel-trip-recap/id1611780590?i=1000723601132

Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/episode/3kQL3favkEcMJ6gz2vVxHV

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Earlier this month (August, 2025) I went to Israel for a week with JH Israel (“JHI”)( https://jhisrael.com/).  The founder of JHI, Heather Johnston, also founded the U.S. Israel Education Association (“USIEA”) (https://www.usieducation.org/), which recently hosted House Speaker Mike Johnson and several other members of the U.S. Congress on their trip to Israel.  Because of the JHI and USIEA work in Israel, we met with several Israeli government officials and prominent individuals.  To put it simply, G_d has used Mrs. Johnston, JHI and the USIEA to have a miraculous impact on U.S.-Israel relations, and He is now using them significantly to bless the Israeli soldiers and students.  I thank G_d that He allowed me to go on this trip, and I ask for His guidance in anything I should do with what I learned and saw.  At a minimum, I can tell you about it.

On the first day we met with retired Israeli Lt. Col. Eran Masas.  On October 7, 2023, the day of the massacre, he received news of a possible attack near Gaza and felt compelled to grab his personal weapon and old uniform and drive south for hours from Haifa, despite having no orders or authorization to do so.  After encountering and eliminating two terrorists, Eran was one of the first IDF representatives to see the Nova Festival Massacre.  He described the horrific scene, how the terrorists savagely mutilated and burned many of the victims, and his efforts to give the bodies some dignity.  Here is a link to his interview with ABC News -  https://abcnews.go.com/International/video/israeli-responder-recounts-searching-life-after-music-festival-104742506

We then met with Chen Kolter Abrahams at Kibbutz Kfar Aza, which we also toured.  She explained how the terrorists, through the many Palestinians that came from Gaza each day to work at the kibbutzim (basically Israel communal farms where people live and work), knew the locations of each kibbutz’s weapons.  The terrorists immediately secured the weapons when they entered a kibbutz.  When the attack started, the terrorists simultaneously attacked the police station and military base.  Therefore, the terrorists were free to rape and kill for hours.  At this kibbutz, the killing lasted all day.  She spoke about the devastation they and so many others experienced, and how two of their young men, residents of the kibbutz she has known from birth, are still among the hostages.  Here is a podcast interview with her - https://open.spotify.com/episode/6TRrmKeYulakhUV9nuP9xD?si=877590a4f5ac42b1&nd=1&dlsi=b31d8b69fb454119

Afterwards we went to the site of the Nova Massacre, where we met with survivor Rafaela Treistman.  When the bombs started falling, she made it, with dozens of others, into a bomb shelter.  In the hours that followed, the terrorists pumped gas, threw grenades, and shot into the shelter.  She was one of only a few survivors, remaining hidden under dead bodies for hours.  Here is a link to an interview with her - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYy24H0W6Jc

That evening we had a BBQ with the soldiers at a nearby IDF military base.  They are so young and friendly, even as they daily must go into Gaza to confront the terrorists.  As we were leaving many of them were suiting up and loading into jeeps for a night patrol in Gaza. 

In the morning, we met with Brigadier General Elad Goren, head of the humanitarian civil effort in the Gaza strip, a new division of the Israeli COGAT (Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories).  He explained the realities of the Israeli aid effort in Gaza.  To begin, if an American or European gives any money to any secular or Islamic organization for Gaza, that money is funneled straight to Hamas.  Hamas then controls the population through this food, which it distributes for exorbitant prices and to feed its terrorists.  There are no starving people except those Hamas allows to starve, and the starving Israeli hostages. 

Israel is continuing to develop a major aid effort to combat the Hamas chokehold on the aid and to make sure the non-terrorist Palestinians receive the goods.  Israel has to be in charge of this, for all other sources of money and aid just end up with Hamas.  Just recently (8/23/25) I saw another article about Hamas killing any Palestinians who work with the Israeli aid efforts.  That’s who they are.  They don’t care about anyone.  They certainly don’t care about their people.  Claims that Israel is starving Gaza are a complete lie.

The following day we went to the Israel Antiquities Authority, which is set to open a major guest experience next year.  We met with Chief Development Officer Sagi Melamed and Dr. Joe Uziel, head of the Dead Sea Scrolls Unit.  We saw some of the Dead Sea Scrolls and other artifacts which demonstrate the Jewish history in the land.  We saw portions of Genesis, Psalms 133, and the oldest known writing of the Ten Commandments, all of these over 2,000 years old. 

The Palestinians have a major disinformation campaign, and they often produce maps without any depiction of Israel (for that is the goal of Hamas and the other radical Muslim leaders).  They also deny Jewish history in the land as a way to fight against Jewish claims and settlements.  But all they do is lie.  The archaeological records prove the Jewish presence in the land for thousands of years, centuries (and more) before Islam even existed.

We also learned how archeologists played a key role in identifying victims of the October 7 Massacre.  The terrorists used a special concoction to completely burn many of the victims beyond any identifying features.  Through cutting edge archeological techniques, scientists were able to identify a number of the victims and at least bring some closure to their grieving families.

That afternoon we met with a former Mossad agent who was instrumental in planning and carrying out the Twelve-Day War with Iran.  He explained how they knew the risks, and the likelihood that many aspects of their operations in Iran might fail.  However, they “chose to believe” and had miraculous success.

He also spoke very candidly about all aspects of the current conflict with Hamas.  He admitted that he didn’t realize those 20,000 Palestinians working in Israel actually posed a huge threat to Israeli safety near Gaza.  Most unfortunately, he explained his opinion that Hamas will never make a deal for the remaining hostages.  In his view, Hamas has nothing to gain, and everything to lose, by releasing them.  Fundamentally, there are two options for Israel.  Either Israel allows Gaza to remain a humanitarian crisis (caused by Hamas, not Israel) and a major center for terrorism, or Israel retakes control of Gaza completely.

After dinner we met with Chaim Silberstein for the Jerusalem Center for Applied Policy (“JCAP”) (https://www.jcap.ngo/).  JCAP focuses its efforts on preventing future terrorism in Jerusalem.  Specifically, Chaim spoke about how radical Muslims educate their children to hate Jews and prepare for jihad from the earliest ages, with educational materials designed to fully embrace antisemitism from birth.  He also described how many Muslim civic organizations (welfare, sports, medical, etc.) are actually funded by the terrorists and used to further their radical agenda everywhere. 

The following day we toured the National Leadership Center (the “NLC”) (https://jhisrael.com/nlc) in Ariel, Israel.  Mrs. Johnston worked with former Ariel Mayor Ron Nachman (now deceased) to start the NLC.  The NLC hosts numerous groups of Israeli soldiers and students, helping them learn, grow and heal, with fun and physical programs which also teach the participants their Biblical heritage.  

While there we met with the mayor of Ariel, Ya’ir Chetboun, who was a school principal when he first began bringing children to the NLC.  We also met with Ruth Knoller Levy from the Israel Ministry of Education.  We learned about the powerful impact the NLC is having on the nation of Israel, especially with their educational programs, to help the Israeli people understand their Biblical heritage and claim to the Promised Land.  Perhaps most movingly, we learned about the NLC’s programs for orphans and returning soldiers.  The programs at the NLC help them heal from the traumas experienced, connect with surviving family members, and move forward in good lives with G_d’s help.

Here is an excellent article about the NLC by NLC Executive Director Eran Glazer (an awesome guy that had us to Shabbat dinner at his home) - https://jhisrael.com/post/resilience-memory-and-rebirth-the-national-leadership-center-in-ariel

As an American Christian, I would assume that all Israelis grow up with a significant historical education, from the Torah, about the Jewish roots in, and claim to, the land.  I just assumed that everyone in Israel is very religious.  Unfortunately, that is not the case.  In the same way that many aspects of the American government and society are separated from religion, so it has been in Israel.  However, that’s changing.  Through the efforts of the NLC and others, thousands of Israeli children will learn about G_d’s promises to their people and their Biblical relationship to the land.  G_d is doing an amazing work in Israel, fulfilling prophecies, and leading hearts to Him.

That afternoon went to Shiloh, where the Ark of the Covenant stayed for hundreds of years, including the years of Samuel’s judgeship over Israel.  At dinner, we spent time with Avi Zimmerman, an Israeli originally from New Jersey.  Avi works with JCAP and he is also the founder Sector4 Strategy LTD, and of the Israeli-Palestinian Economic Forum. 

Most enlightening to me was Avi’s presentation of West Bank realities.  I posted a picture of the map Avi gave us on my Facebook page and I have attached it again here.  As an American, we are generally taught to think of Israeli settlements in the “West Bank” as some jerks that insist on living in Muslim territory, along some narrow strip of land bordering the Jordan river.  That’s certainly the picture painted by the western, mainstream media.  But that is a horribly false picture of the situation. 

The West Bank (which is the Biblical land of Judea and Samaria) is firmly within the Biblical borders of Israel.  But even if that weren’t true, the West Bank takes up a huge portion of Israel.  The western border of the “West Bank” comes within 11 miles of Tel Aviv.  The “settlements” include large cities with ancient Biblical roots, including Bethlehem, Hebron, Shiloh, and Ariel.  To give the West Bank to the Palestinians would be like giving the northern half of the U.S. to Canada, if Canada also wanted to eradicate all Americans from the face of the earth. 

On the last day we toured Yad Vashem, The World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem.  Of all that we saw, I was most struck by videos of Hitler openly claiming his intention to eradicate the Jews, years before the mass killings were taking place at full scale.  Through the world’s inaction, and in many cases support, he killed millions.  Make no mistake, radical Islamic terrorism wants to carry on his work.  It’s the exact same anti-Semitic demonic spirit.  It operated on the Nazis, it's operating in radical Islam, and it’s trying to operate in American society and even in Christianity.

We then toured the site of the Jerusalem Leadership Institute, which is immediately adjacent to Mount Herzl, a national cemetery and memorial location in Jerusalem.  The Jerusalem Leadership Institute is the next extension of the NLC, and the land for the Jerusalem Leadership Institute has been leased from the Israeli government for five years.  Renovations are underway with operations set to begin next month.  At the Jerusalem Leadership Institute, the significant works of educating the children, helping the soldiers, and supporting the nation of Israel will continue.  The Jerusalem Leadership Institute includes hotel rooms, meeting spaces, and outdoor activities, all of which will help with the educational and healing efforts for the troops and students.  There will also be a special focus on parent and child retreats, bringing families closer together even amidst the regional conflicts.  This miraculous opportunity in Jerusalem will take all these efforts to the next level, and G_d is going to do amazing things for His people there. 

I was very fortunate to take this trip with an amazing group of Jewish and Christian men.  A board member of JH Israel (Mr. Mike Sharpe) also donates significantly to our organization in Haiti, and he invited me.  I’m not sure yet exactly how G_d wants me to help, but, again, I know I should at least spread the word.  JH Israel, the National Leadership Center, and the Jerusalem Leadership Institute are asking for people to come alongside and partner with them to help their efforts for the Israeli people into the future, especially as they begin their work at the new facility in Jerusalem.  If you would like to hear more about this trip, or any of these organizations, please don’t hesitate to contact me. 

(Ezekiel 28:25-26 NKJV)
“Thus says the L_rd G_d: "When I have gathered the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and am hallowed in them in the sight of the gentiles, then they will dwell in their own land which I gave to My servant Jacob. And they will dwell safely there, build houses, and plant vineyards; yes, they will dwell securely, when I execute judgments on all those around them who despise them. Then they shall know that I am the L_rd their G_d.” 

 
- Byron