A quiet corner on the banks of the Jordan River, opposite the basalt arches of the 2,000 year old Roman-era bridge, "Bridges Viewpoint" was built in memory of Esther Borenstein in February 2005.
Esther was born in Bulgaria, and during the Second World War, her family was ousted to Italy. As early as her childhood, Esther always loved the Land of Israel, and at age 11, left her home in an attempt to come to Israel.
At 16, she indeed arrived, with her brother, and shortly afterwards, in spite of her early age, joined the Israel Defense Forces.
She joined the Air Force, completed a medic's course, and viewed army service as an honor and not a duty.
On a cold and rainy night on November 29, 1954, Esther was on duty when a "mosquito" plane was hit by lightening and crashed while landing. Esther ran towards the burning plane, rescuing the badly injured navigator. Although ammunition on the plane began to explode, Esther did not hesitate and ran in again to rescue the pilot, Ya'akov Shalmon. When they reached a hiding spot, the entire plane blew up. Esther was awarded a Badge of Courage for this operation by Moshe Dayan, then Highest in Command of the IDF.
After completing her army service, Esther continued to work as a nurse with the Israeli Red Cross, and was the first female ambulance driver in the country.
Later, she looked for a job that would express her love for the country and chose to be a tour guide.
At that same time, the 6-Day War broke out, and Esther joined the paratroopers, where under constant fire and shelling, she tended to injured soldiers, receiving the nickname "Angel of the Paratroopers".
She volunteered during the Yom Kippur war as well, and in 1973, she received the Medal of Honor for saving the pilot.
In February 2003, Esther Arditi passed away during a trip to Italy, and buried there at her family's request.
Esther Arditi earned herself a place of honor in the Arena of Heroes by the people of Israel. Generations of soldiers have learned of her story of bravery.