For some years, Americans and other foreigners were afraid to come to Israel. Now that the calm has returned (ha, ha), they have come back. Among the projects, the Philistine city of Gath is being currently being excavated primarily by Israelis, and the Israelite city of Gezer was excavated in June primarily by Americans.

The Gath team has done something extraordinary in maintaining an excavation blog. You should follow along with them if you want to know the latest. If you haven’t checked in a few days, then you don’t know that they found an ostraca (inscribed potsherd) on their first day of digging!

The first season of the Gezer excavations concluded successfully and director Steven Ortiz is interviewed about the results by the Book and the Spade radio program. Among other things, he discusses his discovery of thick destruction layer that may be dated to the destruction of Siamun (1 Kings 9:16). That interview may only be online for a few days, so don’t wait if you are interested.

Back to the “calm situation,” the reality in Israel is that it is always on the edge of some turmoil. That is life here. When you live in the midst of Arab enemies (and yes, even those who have made peace with Israel still hate her), times of stability are brief. Should that affect one coming to tour Israel or to participate in a dig? Absolutely not. Tour operators and excavation directors know where it is safe and they won’t take their people to dangerous areas. CNN makes you think that all of Israel is in upheaval, and that is one of the ways that the media lies.