MK Avshalom Vilan (Meretz) responded angrily on Saturday to a letter from Jewish activist Nachi Eyal asking residents of Kibbutz Negba to leave their homes. Eyal’s letter stated that Kibbutz Negba was built on lands that once belonged to the Arab village of Beit Afa, Vilan said, but in fact only a small part of the kibbutz was built on the former village of Beit Afa, while most of the village’s lands were used for the nearby Jewish community of Moshav Yad Natan.
Vilan called Eyal’s comparison of Kibbutz Negba to Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria “pathetic and ridiculous.” Kibbutz Negba was vital to Israel’s security during the War of Independence, Vilan said. Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria are “not connected to security," he argued, and most Israelis are ready to give them away.
Eyal wrote his letter in the name of Salah Washa, an elderly Arab man who left Israel during the War of Independence and hoped to return along with his 143 children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. While the letter was not written by Washa, the sentiment was real, Eyal said, as Washa exists and has publicly expressed his plans to “return” to Israel along with his extended family.