620-mile Israel trail brings Jewish history to life

It was a brave—some may argue foolhardy—lot who confronted the Negev desert’s August heat to walk a short segment of the Israel National Trail (INT) at around noontime.

But the nearly 100 young men in blue Israel Defense Forces t-shirts didn’t appear to mind the blazing white heat. They were on the INT (Shvil Yisra’el in Hebrew, though to most Israelis it’s just “the Shvil”) to train. 

“We get lots of practice on different altitudes,” says Aaron Lion, 20. “The Shvil is a really good place to learn how to survive in lots of different conditions.” 

The INT takes a meandering 620-mile route from Kibbutz Dan, among Israel’s northernmost points, to the southern tip of Eilat’s Gulf of Aqaba. 

Since hiking enthusiast Avraham Tamir, fresh off an Appalachian Trail experience in America, dreamed of a national trail in Israel and made it a reality in 1995, hundreds of thousands have hiked its byways—from the green mountains of the north, to cities and towns, to the seemingly endless expanse of the Negev in the south.

Like other national trails, the INT makes it a point of showing off its natural beauty. But in a country where political pressures often divide the citizens, it has another goal: exposing Israelis and visitors alike to the wide variety of cultural and geophysical identities that fill the Jewish state. The peak months for the trail are February to May and October to December, avoiding Israel’s rainy winters and sweltering summers.

But unlike other national trails, these 620 miles go beyond geography by also helping to bring Jewish history to life. 

“Our family spends a lot of time learning Jewish history from books,” says Michael Lindsey, a father of six from Jerusalem. “But when we hike the trail, I can say to the kids, ‘This is the land of Benyamin,’ or, ‘This is where King David lived.’ It brings the Torah to life for us.”