Christmas Came Early: Meet Santa Claus' Official Ambassador on Earth

Snow has yet to fall on the Golan Heights, but Santa Claus has already arrived there. He’s not riding a sleigh pulled by reindeer but sitting in a kayak near Tabgha, on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee.

Still, if you believe in the jovial man in the red hat, with the long white beard and thundering voice bringing good tidings – then those other details shouldn’t bother you.

Issa Anis Kassissieh serves as the official Holy Land Santa. Last Wednesday, this special Santa conducted a tour of the Golan Heights to film his Christmas greetings to the world, a month and a half before the December 25 Christian festival.

The greetings are intended to reach Christians everywhere, and the campaign is being conducted with the help of the Tourism Ministry and the tourism division of the Golan Economic Association.

The journey of this particular Father Christmas included kayaking on the Jordan River, towing a Christmas tree and presents behind him, meeting with children from the area, riding a bicycle alongside Tour de France winner Chris Froome, and touring orchards and the archaeological remains of the Byzantine monastery of Kursi (on the shores of Lake Kinneret).

Kassissieh, who began his career as the official Jerusalem Santa Claus 15 years ago and has served as the Holy Land Santa for the past six years, is a graduate of an institution that deserves more coverage: the CWH Santa Claus School in Midland, Michigan.

He chose to film his season’s greetings this year against the backdrop of the Golan because he sees the region as a unique place, with its abundance of water, orchards, hiking trails, holy places and historical sites. He says he hopes to return to the Golan to enjoy the snow – if and when it arrives.

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Tourism Minister Yoel Razvozov congratulated the local Santa-ambassador: “Promoting religious tourism from all over the world to the Holy Land is one of my most important tasks in my role as tourism minister. Religious tourism builds bridges between people and countries, strengthens our international and diplomatic links, and is an important foundation for incoming tourism. The Tourism Ministry will continue to invest great efforts and resources in strengthening, improving and making accessible the important centers of tourism for all religions for tourists from all over the world.”

Limor Portal, head of the tourism division at the Golan Economic Association, said: “We are proud and happy of the choice of the Holy Land Santa to film his Christmas greetings from the beautiful Golan. The breathtaking region of the Golan and its unique scenery and sites attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year from all over the world. We are excitedly preparing for the reopening of the skies and the return of incoming tourism to Israel.”

Portal added: “Israel is a place of religious interest and tourism for over 2 billion Christians worldwide, and we think the Christmas greetings from the vistas of the Golan will encourage them to come and visit, and add heritage sites, promenades and Golan products to the experience of a visit to Israel.”

The reopening of Israel’s skies has never been accompanied by such a wonderful sound of bells – and cries of “Ho, Ho Holy Land.”