Israeli Apache Helicopters in Golan during Combat Operations

While touring megalithic sites near Moshav Yonatan in Golan on a recent Sunday morning (2013 March 24) I accidentally recorded video of two Israeli Apache attack helicopters that were probably taking part in military operations against Syrians.

This remote area is closer to the Syrian border than to any major Israeli city. While exploring the remarkable 5,000-year-old ruins of Rujm el Hiri (known as 'Stonehenge of the Levant') I heard, and then saw, two armed Israeli Apache attack helicopters.
I thought they were on maneuvers, perhaps using Rujm el Hiri as a landmark, since the structure is so massive (much bigger than the English Stonehenge) that it's form only becomes apparent when viewed from the air, as in the image above. ( https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=32.90... ).

A few hours after this incident I picked up my wife and children from in Qatsrin (the nearest town) and heard the news that a Syrian machine gun position had fired on a Israeli truck the previous night, and that Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) had taken it out that morning -- during the same time I'd been hiking -- probably around less than 5 mi. away from the Rujm el Hiri site (news report: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/0... ). Apparently the two Apache helicopters that had hovered and flown over me at low altitude were part of this combat operation.


These IDF helicopters may also have been observing me while I was making this video of them, since there were very few hikers in that area and they may have wanted to confirm that I was not an insurgent. In any case, I was surprised that there had been actual combat during my peaceful hike. The Syrian Civil War seemed far away from the plain dotted with hundreds of ancient megalithic structures, currently used as bucolic cow pasturage. In reality it was close enough to be accidentally observable.

The encounter with these helicopters was not disconcerting, possibly because I was unaware of the seriousness of their mission. The only times I'd felt danger on that Sunday morning was when I noticed jackals taking too-keen an interest in me. I was more concerned about the dangers of vipers and other venomous creatures than from military equipment.