Israel’s northernmost town sits at the tip of a narrow strip of territory that protrudes into Lebanon like a finger. Metula, founded in 1896, is small, quiet, and surrounded on three sides by a country that is technically at war with it. None of this seems to bother the residents, who grow apples, run a surprisingly popular ice rink, and enjoy some of the most beautiful views in the Galilee.
The Finger of the Galilee
Metula exists in its current shape because British negotiators insisted on including it within Palestine during the border negotiations of the 1920s. The resulting bulge in the border has made Metula one of the most geographically exposed communities in Israel, surrounded by Lebanon to the north, east, and west.
The Canada Centre
Metula’s most unexpected attraction is the Canada Centre, an ice sports complex donated by Canadian Jews in 1998. It includes an Olympic-sized ice rink, a swimming pool, and a bowling alley. The sight of Israelis ice skating a few hundred meters from the Lebanese border is one of those details that captures something essential about life in Israel: the determination to live normally in abnormal circumstances.
The Good Fence
During the Lebanese Civil War, the border at Metula became known as the Good Fence, a crossing where Lebanese civilians could enter Israel for medical treatment and work. The arrangement lasted until Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000.
Visit with Hoshen Tours
Metula is a natural stop on northern border itineraries. Hoshen Tours combines it with Tel Dan, the Hula Valley, and the border region for a day that shows where Israel ends and why.