A Zionist party would boycott a settlement event?

Chairman Shlomo Ne'eman of the Gush Etzion Regional Council has criticized the Zionist Union for its announced boycott of Wednesday evening's celebration of the 50th anniversary of the settlement of Judea and Samaria in Gush Etzion. He said, "It is inconceivable that a party that defines itself as a Zionist party, a party whose ancestors were an inseparable part of the establishment of the settlement enterprise 50 years ago, chooses to boycott the day in which a major step was taken for the Yishuv in Eretz Israel. Those who day after day choose to denigrate and blame people of ... dividing Israeli society, in the end does so himself."

Ne'eman continued, "Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and President Shimon Peres are turning over in their graves at the way their party chose to continue their heritage. It is not too late to descend from the olive tree on which they climbed in the name of peace and reach the oak tree [Gush Etzion's Alon Shvut] to celebrate the event taking place in the Gush and to remember the founders of the state who founded the party of the boycotters."