Current sectionArt & CultureShare to FacebookShare to XArticle printing is available to subscribers onlyPrint in a simple, ad-free formatSubscribeComments: Zen reading is available to subscribers onlyAd-free and in a comfortable reading formatSubscribeHot air balloons rise during the 39th annual New Jersey Lottery Festival of Ballooning at Solberg Airport, in 2022. Credit: AP Photo/Julia NikhinsonA balloon festival returns to the western Negev for the first time since October 7, betting that breathtaking views can help revive a shattered tourism industry. But visitors will inevitably also see the devastation Israel has wrought in GazaMoshe Gilad02:29 PM • August 02 2026 IDTThere is a rare moment when absolute silence takes over. The burners are off, the climb is over and the valley below looks like a patchwork of green, brown and yellow fields. A bird stares at us in apparent astonishment. The hot-air balloon simply hangs there, suspended in space, while we stand beneath it like pale mushrooms in a wicker basket. There are few moments like this in life. We humans rarely get to fly.Loading...Click the alert icon to follow topics:Israel tourismNegevCommentsLoading...In the NewsIn the News: Live UpdatesNetanyahuU.S.-IranGaza DealLebanon Michigan PrimaryElection PollsHaQuizHaaretz PodcastCan Hot-air Balloons Lift Tourism Back to Israel's Gaza Border?The Massacre That Changed an Entire Documentary on Druze in the Golan HeightsHow Hip-hop Ended Up as the Soundtrack of the Israeli Far RightPTSD, Guilt and Alienation: Watching 'The Odyssey' in Israel Hits DifferentlyThese Palestinian Artists Exhibit a Rare Courage to Look WithinRemembering and rebuilding two years laterICYMINetanyahu Says Israel Has 'Special Forces' Ready if He's Arrested on NY VisitThis Israeli ultra-Orthodox Feminist Activist Has a Warning for U.S. JewsAl Jazeera Reportedly Ends Contracts of Over 20 Gazan JournalistsTwo Female Israeli Soldiers Die by Suicide as IDF Mental Health Crisis DeepensDozens of IDF Soldiers Desert Sde Teiman Base in Protest of CommanderTrump's Irritation, Netanyahu's Desperation: Oval Office Smiles Mask Rifts