There is a treasure hunt taking place on the Golan Heights this week.
The territory Israel seized from Syria in the 1967 war and annexed in 1980 has been flooded with tens of thousands of Israelis and tourists during the intermediate days of Passover, seeking a bar of gold at the end of the proverbial rainbow.
The gold rush is a promotional stunt organized and vigorously promoted by Israel Radio, the Golan Heights Development and Tourist Corp. and a local mineral water bottling factory.
The first prize is a bar of gold valued at about $3,500. It awaits the canny searcher able to interpret the series of clues broadcast by Israel Radio throughout the day.
Digging or panning is not required. The winner is the person who first approaches a car parked “somewhere” on the heights and challenges the driver with the statement, “You’re from the radio.”
He or she will be given a certificate redeemable at Israel Broadcast Authority headquarters in Jerusalem for the gold ingot.
It is an old gimmick. One version was described more than 60 years ago in one of the late Graham Greene’s first novels, “Brighton Rock.”
But the Golan gold hunt is the latest in a series of quizzes and treasure hunts Israel Radio has run for the past three decades to gain listeners, but also to educate.
Most have been based on biblical, post-biblical, historical and archaeological themes.
There was no winner Monday, the first day of the hunt. Tuesday’s prize therefore is two gold bars. It will be three Wednesday if there is still no winner.
The majority of prospectors of course are destined to lose. As a consolation, they have magnificent views of wildflower-strewn hillsides amid balmy spring weather.
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