The Kuneitra Lookout (Mitzpe Ronen)

Description: The Kuneitra Lookout is adjacent to Kibbutz Ein Zivan on Road 98, on the slopes of the Avital volcano. It looks over the apple and cherry orchards in the Kuneitra Valley, and gives a marvellous view of parts of Syria.

The Syrian border as about one kilometer east of here, and the lookout provides a view of the U.N. camp and the border fence. On the other side of the fence, you can see – in the distance – the volcanos that are in Syria, the abandoned village of Old Kuneitra, and the Kuneitra Reservoir. The reservoir was built by the Syrians to store the water of the Rokad Riverbed for agricultural use.

The orchards, which belong to the kibbutzim in the area, paint the valley in green. In the fall, as the leaves turn, red and orange are prevalent. There’s a voice station at the lookout site, and by pressing the button, you can hear an explanation of the battles that took place here in the 1967 Six-Day War, and the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

The Golan Regional Council gave the site an additional name – “Mitzpe Ronen” (The Ronen Lookout) – in memory of Ronen Gilboa z”l, a resident of Ein Zivan, who was a pioneer in local tourism, and a lover of the Golan.