Day 716 - ToI editor's surreal 48 hours in Damascus

25 snips

Sep 21, 2025

David Horovitz, Editor of The Times of Israel and a seasoned journalist, shares his surreal 48-hour adventure in Damascus. He recounts his circuitous journey involving three flights and describes his initial impressions of the city amid signs of recent conflict. A highlight of his trip was the Dura-Europos synagogue, with its extraordinary ancient wall paintings. Horovitz also discusses meetings with Syrian officials about Israel relations and the amusing quest for kosher hummus in the heart of Damascus.

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ANECDOTE

Three-Flight Route Into Damascus

David flew from Israel to Damascus via Athens and Istanbul because direct travel was not possible.
The journey required three flights each way and involved complex routing for Israeli travelers.

ANECDOTE

VIP Arrival Amid Recent Bombing

At Damascus airport David's group bypassed buses and arrived in BMWs to a VIP room despite recent bombings of the terminal.
The contrast between a VIP welcome and recent hostilities made the arrival feel surreal.

INSIGHT

A Narrow, Localized View Of War's Impact

Damascus life appeared fairly normal in the areas David visited, with markets functioning and people going about daily tasks.
The delegation's limited itinerary likely insulated them from the deeper destruction visible in nearby neighborhoods like Jobar.

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Welcome to The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what's happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world.

Editor David Horovitz joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Last week, ToI's founding editor took a whirlwind trip to Damascus as part of a small delegation of US Jewish leaders, scholars and rabbis, which was coordinated by the new Syrian government.

In today's episode, we hear that getting there was just the beginning of the adventure. What would have ostensibly been a three-hour car drive with open borders for Jerusalem-based Horovitz took three flights -- from Tel Aviv to Athens, then to Istanbul, and finally, from Istanbul to Damascus.

He describes how, at the Damascus International Airport, the group immediately launched into their packed itinerary, which had the simultaneous dual tracks of a Jewish roots tour and a "friendship visit" with high-level Syrian officials.

Horovitz describes at length what sounds like the pinnacle of the tour, a rare visit to the Dura-Europos synagogue, a 2,000-year-old shul in eastern Syria that was rediscovered in 1932. We learn about the seven-meter-high, vividly-colored wall paintings that lined the walls of the synagogue’s assembly hall and their near miraculous survival.

And finally, we learn what the Syrian government wished the delegation to take back home and pass on to their leadership -- American and Israeli.

Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

48 surreal hours in Damascus — an Israeli reporter’s travelogue from an enemy capital

After years of war, world’s oldest synagogue paintings seen intact in Damascus

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Podwaves.

IMAGE: Times of Israel Editor David Horovitz and academic Jill Joshowitz stand near the Dura-Europos Synagogue wall paintings in the Damascus National Museum in Syria, September 16, 2025. (Times of Israel)

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