Tel Hai

Tel Hai is a historic site that commemorates the heroism of the Hula Valley settlers who tenaciously defended their homes until death. The town near Kiryat Shmona is named after the eight (Shmona in Hebrew) settlers who lost their lives here.

Tel Hai was founded in 1916 by a group of Hashomer guards. Hashomer was an organization that believed that only Jews should guard Jewish settlements.

Tel Hai symbolizes heroism. Every year, on the 11th of Adar, an official ceremony is held in memory of Trumpledor and his fellow soldiers in the cemetery of the nearby town Kfar Giladi, where the young fighters were buried in a common grave. In the cemetery you will find the statue of the roaring lion sculpted by Avraham Melinkov in 1926.

Tel Hai remains as it was. The buildings are of basalt stone with red tiled roofs, and the settlement that thrived here in the early years of Jewish settlement in the region are preserved. In the courtyard there is a museum that reconstructs the life of Tel Hai’s founders and an audiovisual program in seven languages reconstructing the battle and the heroic acts of those men. Children can solve historic riddles and try on costumes of the time. Around the courtyard you will find sculptures and antique farming gears.

Near the Tel Hai courtyard you will see the Tel Hai School and youth accommodation overlooking the Hula Valley landscapes. West of Tel Hai you will find a path marked by bronze and stone sculptures, and the west is the industrial area of ​​Tel Hai, where there is an interesting photography museum and an amusing antique car museum.