Trapped in Israel During the War — Our Testimony
– By Dave Robbins
In October 2023, a group led by the author embarked on a tour of Israel, starting with the usual visits to biblical sites. However, on Day 2, their journey took a dramatic turn as Israel faced a surprise invasion from Gaza, marking the beginning of a full-scale war. The group endured multiple rocket attacks, relying on Israel’s Iron Dome for protection. Despite the chaos, the author continued teaching the Gospel and baptizing tour members, witnessing God’s guidance. After narrowly escaping dangerous situations, they completed their trip and returned home, strengthened by faith and the power of prayer.
Editor’s Note: I do not have the space to share every event that occurred on our trip. These are only the highlights …
It started out like any other Israel tour.
My wife Jana and I along with 39 tourists made the journey to the Holy Land on October 5. Upon landing at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, we hopped on the bus and went straight to Jerusalem. After getting everyone settled into their rooms at the Dan Jerusalem Hotel, we had dinner and then went to bed anticipating a great tour.
Day 1 — The first day was awesome! Every Endtime tour begins on the Mount of Olives and continues down the Palm Sunday Path to the Garden of Gethsemane. We then walked down through the Kidron Valley past Jehoshaphat and Zechariah’s tomb to the Pool of Siloam. We took a bus ride to lunch at the Christmas Tree Restaurant in Bethlehem and on to the Shepherds’ Field where I recounted the story of Jesus’ birth and the events that accompanied it. Lastly, we headed back to the hotel for dinner and off to bed. We couldn’t wait for day two!
Day 2 — October 7, everyone was excited. Our plan was to go down into the Jordan Valley, ascend Mount Masada, visit Ein Gedi (once a refuge for King David), have lunch at Qumran (where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered), let everyone experience the Dead Sea and back to the hotel at the end the day.
The bus ride down was breathtaking with awesome views of the Dead Sea, along with Jordan and the Moab Mountains off in the distance. Our tour group arrived at Mount Masada and rode the cable car to the top. I would say we were about 30 minutes into the excursion when all of us heard several loud booms (like the loud fireworks on the 4th of July). I looked at my wife and she looked at me; we both looked at our guide but he didn’t say anything. We proceeded cautiously with the tour and it wasn’t two to three minutes before our guide received a phone call. It was the touring company telling him to immediately get us down off the mountain and go straight back to the hotel.
On our ride back to the hotel, our ex-military guide was glued to his phone. He told my wife and I there had been an invasion earlier that morning from Gaza and they were firing rockets into Israel. It was too early to tell but hundreds of Israelis had been murdered and they were already calling up reservists. By the time we made it back to the hotel, he told us all three of his sons had been called to Gaza. We later learned it was probably Israel’s Iron Dome Missile Defense system intercepting the rockets from Gaza that created the loud booms we heard up on Masada.
The hotel was full of tourists the rest of the day because all our regular tourist sites were closed.
Israel responded with Israeli jet fighters launching retaliatory strikes in Gaza.
Only day 2 of our tour …
Day 3 — On October 8, Israel officially declared war on the Iranian-backed terrorist proxy Hamas after they fired rockets into and invaded Israel, kidnapped their soldiers and citizens and committed horrific/demonic acts of violence.
It was the largest terrorist attack in Israel’s history. It is also the most Jews killed in one day since the Holocaust.
Our guide was doing his best to find sites that were open, so our group was able to see as much as possible.
That morning we visited the Jewish Agency.
We then went to the Garden Tomb. After viewing Golgotha and the tomb, they put us in the lower chapel. While I was sharing what happened at Calvary and the Gospel plan, we heard several loud booms. I knew the Iron Dome Missile Defense system had been deployed to intercept incoming rockets. The security at the tomb site came running down to tell us to stay put because we were already in their bomb shelter. Besides Masada, this was the first official rocket attack our group survived.
All the while, I just kept on talking and teaching the Gospel!
Later that day we went to the Biblical Gardens and Friends of Zion Museum with Mike Evans.
I had been praying daily for God to protect us and show us what to do next. I just wanted Him to direct our path. While we were at the Friends of Zion, the president of Sar-El Tours met Jana, our tour guide and me for a cup of coffee. His daughter and son-in-law had just been called up with the rest of the reservists to fight Hamas.
After some discussion about the rest of our trip, he strongly suggested we not go to Tiberius where the Sea of Galilee is but go to his hotel in Netanya by the Mediterranean Sea. This would prove to be a very pivotal decision in our trip and after seeing how things played out, I knew God was directing our footsteps.
Netanya ended up being one of the safest areas in the entire nation of Israel.
In the evenings I participated in one television and radio interview after another on my patio furniture desk I set up on the hotel rooftop.
Day 4 — We were stuck at the hotel when the sirens started going off and we had to get to either a bomb shelter or the stairway of the hotel. This was the second rocket attack our group survived.
Thank God Israel has the Iron Dome Missile Defense system.
DAY 6 — At this point, most tour groups were going to the airport in Tel Aviv or Jordan and dispersing their groups among all the airlines just to get them out; two on this flight, six on that flight … Some were going to Athens, Dubai, Frankfort, etc. A handful of our tour members decided to leave. Luckily, some were able to purchase a ticket for $5K each to one of these countries but then had to negotiate for another flight to the United States. Many returned to the hotel with no available flights.
A couple of our tour group members contacted the U.S. Embassy and were told they did not help American citizens with flights out of the country and that they were on their own.
We had someone contact us with a charter plane but they wanted $11K per person to fly us out.
After praying, Jana and I made the decision to hunker down, keep our group together and fly out with our regular tickets on the following Sunday.
DAY 8 — We left Jerusalem and headed to Netanya.
Our guide was able to schedule us for the next day to go to the Mount of Beatitudes, a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee and he even got the guy to open the Jordan River baptism spot.
That night I shared the Gospel again. I told them, no matter what happens, I would baptize those wanting to be baptized even if I had to do it in the Mediterranean Sea. 19 of the 36 signed up for baptism!
Each night I was teaching prophecy lessons in a hotel conference room. What a wonderful, patient and understanding group of people we had on this tour!
DAY 9 — It was time for the trip to the Galilee region! Then we received the news … This was the day the so-called mistaken alarm went out that armed drones had been sent into the northern section of Israel and all the northern region was shut down completely including the Sea of Galilee. No baptisms! At least not in the Jordan River.
We were stuck at the hotel because all of Israel was shut down. Still, the Netanya region was the safest place.
We had a gentleman rent a taxi to take him to the Sea of Galilee. When he went to get in the taxi, the security guard asked him where he was going; he said, “ … the Sea of Galilee.” The security guard told him if he got in the taxi, he would arrest him. Upon learning of the incident, our guide said, “Man, don’t you understand? Israel is in a state of war! That entire region is shut down!”
Notice how God was directing our path. If we had gone to our hotel in Tiberius on the Sea of Galilee, we could have been stuck there, unable to make our flight. Thank you, Jesus!
DAY 10 — Baptism Day. The hotel pools were closed …
I talked to the group and told them I didn’t want to send anyone back who wanted to be baptized without doing that. It is that important.
We drove down the beach about a half mile and walked to the water. Security would only allow 10 people to gather at our baptism site on the Mediterranean Sea. I ended up baptizing 18 because the sea was too rough for some. I told those individuals, if needed, I would fly to where they lived to baptize them.
The church can have revival in the midst of any storm!
DAY 11 — Flying home!
We made it to the airport. Surprisingly, no tour groups. Just families trying to leave.
Our guide and the manager of the hotel told us we were one of if not the only tour group left in Israel.
We got our tickets, were sitting at the gate and we heard those loud booms again. Gaza was firing rockets at Tel Aviv and the Iron Dome Missile Defense system was deploying to intercept them. Many of our tour group saw them take off and go across the sky. This was the third rocket attack we survived.
It ended and we got on the plane.
As our plane left the runway, I was praying because those planes are prime targets.
We later learned, from a couple of our tour members who had a separate flight, their plane was delayed because the airport had to clear shrapnel from the runway.
That’s way too close!
Day 12 — We landed in Newark, NJ and then headed to Dallas where we were greeted by several friends and family.
Were we afraid? Never! Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
We believe our trip and experiences were the will of God. Jana and I talked, and we would do it all over again just to be able to baptize those precious souls again!
Thank you, Jesus, for keeping us safe and thank all of you for your prayers!