Mount Adir

View of the Mount

Mount Adir (Hebrew: הר אדיר, romanized: Har Adir, Arabic: جبل عداثر, romanized: Jabal Adathir) is a mountain in the Upper Galilee, Israel, located within the area of the Meron Nature Reserve, near the settlements of Sasa, Mattat, and Hurfeish. The mountain rises to a height of 1,008 meters above sea level, making it one of the highest mountains in Israel. It is covered with a dense Mediterranean forest of oak, terebinth, pistacia, and kermes oak.

The name of the mountain, which overlooks Lebanon, was given to it because of the verse from the Book of Isaiah "and Lebanon with its majestic trees will fall." At the site, there are remnants of a fortress from the Iron Age, which was presumably built by the Omride dynasty of the Kingdom of Israel. The summit of the mountain is closed to visitors and on it is an IDF base with numerous antennas, which are visible from afar.

Archeology

The excavations conducted in the 1970s exposed remains which were interpreted as a three-strata fortress dated to the 9th‒11th centuries BCE. The fortress showed characteristics of the Omride architecture and must have been built by the kings of the Northern Kingdom as a center of control over the wooded, sparsely inhabited Upper Galilee, facing the territory of Tyre in the west. Ceramic findings at the site, also date back to the Iron Age II.

Mount Adir Lookout

Mount Adir lookout

Mount Adir, close to the border with Lebanon, offers an excellent view towards most of southern Lebanon. On the first memorial day of the Second Lebanon War, the families of the fallen soldiers requested the establishment of a lookout in memory of the war's casualties. Initiated by the bereaved families, the lookout was established by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and with the assistance of the Jewish National Fund. It was inaugurated in a state ceremony on July 3, 2012, and consists of a wooden deck that can accommodate 180 visitors. On the railing, there are explanations about the course of the war, metal plates with the names of the 121 soldiers who fell during the war, orientation maps of the area, and engraved is the poem by Yehuda Amichai "For Man Is a Tree of the Field".

Dedication

There is also a plaque with a dedication from the bereaved families in memory of the war's casualties, which reads:

"We, the parents of soldiers who fell defending the Israel in the Second Lebanon War, are bound to this land with every fiber of our being. We have always seen contributing to the state as a central part of our worldview. Our enlistment and the enlistment of our sons to serve in the Israel Defense Forces is a natural continuation of this recognition. It was clear to us and our sons that service in the army might put them in situations where they would be required to risk their lives and perhaps even sacrifice them. We always hoped that this need would never arise. In the summer of 2006, during the war, we accompanied our sons to their eternal rest. This lookout was built in memory of our beloved, with appreciation, love, and endless longing."

Nature

Since the lookout is located in the Mount Meron Nature Reserve, efforts were made not to harm nature. Therefore, the paved road to the mountain's summit, which was laid many years ago to reach the military base on the mountain, does not reach the lookout. Access to the lookout is possible only on foot, after a walk of about 5 minutes on a dirt road leading from the parking lot adjacent to the military camp.