"Fuck! I see Tyre": The Israeli who discovers how close everything is

During the war, 33-year-old Iftach Eitan, an archaeologist and trainee tour guide, found himself with a lot of free time spent in a protected space (MAMAD). Instead of staying between four walls, he took a telescope and began a series of intriguing observations across the country – sometimes even during sirens. His videos, which have garnered tens of thousands of views, have turned into an extraordinary project: Eitan directs his lens at places Israelis know from the Bible, history books, or war reports, and shows them where they really are.

In this small country, it turns out, sometimes it is enough to look through a telescope to discover that biblical stories and modern combat zones are all in the same field of vision. Behind the popular videos are curiosity and an almost childish enthusiasm for the ability to connect distant points on the map. "I am blown away by the fact that you can see a certain place from the Hermon, or identify something that is very far away," he says. "And I really managed to reach some impressive results, and I say this modestly."

From Zichron Ya'akov to the Lebanese Coast

It all started during a period when, due to a reduced workload, Iftach was sitting at home in Zichron Ya'akov. "I asked myself: what can I do between sirens? I realized I could travel and see the places I always loved. I drove to the Muhraka to try to see the Azrieli towers in Tel Aviv." One of his first and most successful observations was born from a simple question: is it possible to see Lebanon from the Haifa area? Setting up his telescope at Stella Maris, the city's westernmost point, he noticed the outlines of buildings beyond the ridge. "I looked and said to myself: 'Fuck, I see Tyre'."

This discovery gained special meaning due to the context: "I see Tyre while they are bombing there, and suddenly you understand how small everything is here and how everything is inside one another." The video went viral, and Iftach proved that you don't need NASA equipment for such discoveries – just a telescope costing 1,720 shekels and a smartphone adapter.

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History Under Our Feet

Iftach is convinced that archaeology and history are subjects that really speak to people. The most prominent example is a video from the Old City of Jerusalem. "You say 'Damascus Gate' and people are scared to death," he laughs. "But under the plaza that everyone is afraid of, you can go down a few meters and enter the Jerusalem of the Hadrian period, 1,900 years ago. People wrote to me: 'I've been a Jerusalemite all my life, 50 years, and I never knew such a place existed.' And it gave me goosebumps."

Eitan seeks to turn names that sound threatening or abstract into tangible points on the map. For example, on Mount Gerizim, he sought to understand the connection between Joseph's Tomb and ancient Nablus. "I see Joseph's Tomb below, and two hundred meters from it the biblical Tel Nablus in the Balata refugee camp, and I immediately understood. These observations teach me, and this enthusiasm is visible in the videos."

Hope on the Horizon

Sometimes these observations open a door to hope. "Perhaps days will come when we will not have to just stand here and look from afar at Lebanon, but we will be able to stand on Jebel Sannine above Beirut and look from there towards Israel. This is not a political matter from my perspective, but something human," he concludes.