Standing on top of Mount Bental, a volcanic peak on the Golan Heights, you can see Syria. Not in the abstract, geopolitical sense. You can literally see it. The abandoned city of Quneitra sits in the valley below, empty since 1974. Syrian villages are visible on the hills beyond. UN observation posts dot the landscape. And the coffee shop at the summit, in a gesture of dark humor that could only happen in Israel, is called Coffee Annan, named after the former UN Secretary-General.
Mount Bental is one of the most visited overlooks in Israel, and for good reason. It offers a panoramic view of the Golan Heights, Syria, and the landscape where one of the most desperate battles in Israel’s history was fought. But it is also the gateway to a story about tanks, a kibbutz, and a community of Druze apple farmers that is unlike anything else in the country.
The Valley of Tears
On October 6, 1973, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, Syria launched a massive surprise attack on the Golan Heights. Over 1,400 Syrian tanks advanced toward the Israeli lines, which were defended by fewer than 200 tanks. The numerical disparity was staggering, and for the first hours of the Yom Kippur War, it looked like the Syrian army would break through and pour down into the Galilee.
The valley below Mount Bental became the epicenter of the battle. The 7th Armored Brigade, and specifically the 77th Tank Battalion, fought a desperate holding action against waves of Syrian armor. For four days, the Israeli crews fought without sleep, without reinforcements, and with ammunition running low. Tank crews whose vehicles were hit climbed out, found another tank, and kept fighting.
By the time the battle was over, the valley was littered with the burned-out hulks of hundreds of tanks, and the Israeli lines had held. The valley was named Emek HaBacha, the Valley of Tears, and the 77th Battalion’s stand became one of the defining stories of the Yom Kippur War.
The Oz 77 Memorial
The Oz 77 Memorial, located near Mount Bental, honors the soldiers of the 77th Tank Battalion who held the line in the Valley of Tears. The memorial is simple and powerful: a monument surrounded by the open landscape where the battle took place. Standing there, with the valley spread out before you and the Syrian positions visible on the heights opposite, the scale of what happened becomes terrifyingly clear.
The memorial is named “Oz,” meaning courage or strength in Hebrew, and the number 77 refers to the battalion. It is one of the most visited military memorials in Israel, and IDF units regularly hold ceremonies here. For visitors, it is a place that connects the landscape to the history in a way that no book or documentary can match.
The Bunkers of Mount Bental
The summit of Mount Bental is crisscrossed with old IDF bunkers and trenches from the post-1967 period. Visitors can walk through the bunkers freely, ducking through narrow corridors and emerging at observation slits that look out toward Syria. The bunkers are unrestored and unglamorous, just concrete, iron, and darkness, but they give a tangible sense of what it was like to man a forward position on one of the most contested borders in the world.
The view from the summit is extraordinary in any direction. To the east, Syria. To the north, Mount Hermon with its snow-capped peak. To the west, the Hula Valley and the hills of the Galilee. And all around, the rolling volcanic landscape of the Golan, covered in basalt rocks, wildflowers in spring, and cattle grazing on grass so green it looks like Ireland.
Kibbutz El Rom
Just down the road from Mount Bental sits Kibbutz El Rom, the highest kibbutz in Israel at 1,050 meters above sea level. Founded in 1971, four years after Israel captured the Golan Heights, El Rom was evacuated during the Yom Kippur War when Syrian forces came dangerously close. The kibbutz members returned after the war and rebuilt, and the community has been there ever since.
El Rom is small, remote, and extraordinarily beautiful. The kibbutz is surrounded by cattle ranches and apple orchards, and the views from the settlement stretch across the Golan to Mount Hermon. In winter, the kibbutz can be blanketed in snow. In spring, the surrounding fields explode with wildflowers. It is a place that feels far from the rest of Israel, in both distance and atmosphere.
The Druze of the Golan
The Golan Heights are home to approximately 23,000 Druze, most of whom live in four villages on the slopes of Mount Hermon: Majdal Shams, Mas’ade, Buq’ata, and Ein Qiniyye. The Druze of the Golan have a unique and complex situation. When Israel captured the Golan in 1967, the local Druze were offered Israeli citizenship, but most declined, choosing to maintain their Syrian identity.
Despite this political complexity, the Druze villages are welcoming to visitors and known for their hospitality, their apple orchards, and their food. Druze cuisine features fresh pita baked in traditional ovens, labneh, olive oil, and grilled meats, and a meal in one of the village restaurants is one of the highlights of any Golan Heights visit. The villages also produce some of the best apples in Israel, and the autumn apple harvest is a local tradition that draws visitors from across the country.
Visit Mount Bental and the Golan with Hoshen Tours
Mount Bental is the centerpiece of any Golan Heights itinerary. Hoshen Tours combines it with the Oz 77 memorial, the Druze villages, the wineries of the Golan, and the natural sites of the region, creating a day that covers military history, stunning landscapes, and one of the most unique cultural experiences in Israel.
Because the Golan Heights is where Israel’s past and present meet on a hilltop. And the view from Mount Bental makes sure you never forget either one.