Yonatan and its surroundings

Moshav Yonatan is located next to Route 808, between the Daliyot and HaMapalim junctions. This location gives you a specific reference point for planning; check your navigation to your destination before setting out. A local highlight is the history of the community and nearby Gilgal Rafaim.

The story begins in 1975 with a group of companions of a fallen soldier: they founded a Nahal settlement group on the Golan Heights and named it after him. In 1978, the permanent settlement site was established in Yonatan. The two dates mark different steps: 1975 refers to the founding of the group, and 1978 to the permanent site.

A special detail in the center of Yonatan commemorates the fallen soldier. In the entrance area of the spiral-shaped community club, metal letters beside a well-kept garden display a verse from David’s lament. It reads: “How are the mighty fallen in war; Jonathan, slain on your heights” (2 Samuel 1:25). The inscription includes the fallen soldier’s name.

Gilgal Rafaim, also called “Rogem al-Hiri” in Arabic, is located near Moshav Yonatan. This ancient megalithic monument on the Golan Heights consists of more than 42,000 basalt stones arranged in concentric circles. It lies at the center of a broad plain dotted with hundreds of dolmens. This makes it possible to distinguish the monument’s clearly ordered stone arrangement from the wider landscape, which is rich in dolmens.

Archaeological sites in the Northern District

The archaeological sites of the Northern District include Tel Hazor and Tel Megiddo. At Tel Hazor, the visit focuses on the upper city. This is where Solomon’s Gate is located, a gate with six chambers and two towers dating to the 10th century BCE. The Canaanite palace was used by the kings of Hazor in the 14th and 13th centuries BCE. The Late Bronze Age palace is considered the most elaborate in Israel and one of the most important in the Levant.

Tel Hazor also preserves significant remains of an underground water-collection system, an advanced engineering achievement adapted to the geography for water storage. In this water system, steps three meters wide are hewn into the walls of a vertical shaft. For directions to Tel Hazor National Park, the route description specifies Route 90 from the north and south toward Ayelet Hashahar; check your navigation before setting out.

Tel Megiddo offers a different archaeological focus. The biblical tell is one of three tells that preserve significant remains of cities with biblical associations and are closely connected to events in the Bible. The Early Bronze Age temple complex is considered exceptional because of the number of its temples, the continuity of worship, and the documented ritual activities. An orthogonal city plan dating to the Iron Age has few parallels in the Levant. The comparison of periods here spans from the Early Bronze Age to the Iron Age.

Choose accommodation to suit your travel interests

Discover more destinations: Kfar Vradim, Kidmat Tsvi, Kibbutz Snir, Givat Yeshayahu, Udim, Rishon LeZion, Kfar Rut, Naham.

For the main travel overview: Israel.