Rishon Rishon

Israel from the air

I have been keeping an eye out for some time for a good satellite picture of Israel. I finally found it! (Via mentalblog.com) The reason I was looking for it is that it shows one of the most amazing little-known facts that I know: You can see the borders of Israel from outer space!! The reason for that: Israel takes relatively good care of its environment. Most importantly, Israel makes sure that the land isn't overgrazed. I have seen it up-close myself. I once drove down the entire length of the Negev-Sinai border - from the Gaza Strip to Eilat. There's a security road there, which is now closed to the public because lately Egypt has been letting people take pot-shots across the border, but once it was open. It's amazing. I drove from north to south. On my left, the desert was covered with grasses and shrubs. On my right, sand. The desert areas provide the most dramatic contrast along Israel's borders, but look carefully at the map: you can see all of Israel's borders. You can see the outline of the West Bank, with the Jerusalem corridor in the middle. You can see the northern border with Lebanon. You can't tell from this view, but the border between Syria and the Golan is also clearly visible. You'd think this would gain us some points with the supposedly environmentally aware, but I've never heard any such thing.

UPDATE: If you know of any other good pictures of this nature, not too large, let me know.