Gush Etzion Council Chairman Shlomo Ne'man alluded to a statement by MK Amir Peretz according to which he would not object to Gush Etzion being part of the State of Israel.
"We are pleased with the statement of the future minister and Labor Party chairman Amir Peretz. To us, this is a principled statement according to which the settlement [movement] is an integral part of the State of Israel. Gush Etzion residents through the generations from Kfar Etzion to Kfar Eldad and from Meizad to Karmi Tzur praise him for this position and emphasize that they consider Gush Etzion a pioneer region that will erase the disgrace of the Green Line from the map of the state and bring complete Israeli sovereignty to Judea and Samaria."