Activists who work to build and maintain Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria responded Monday to Welfare Minister Yitzchak Herzog's plan to build institutions for “hilltop youth.” Police and judges would be able to sentence youths to time in an institution for breaking the law. Youths would also be able to enter an institution of their own will.

Daniella Weiss, former mayor of Kedumim, rejected Herzog's claim that hilltop youth are “a danger to society.” Weiss, who currently lives in the Peace House in Hevron, said, “I see these youths day and night. There are wonderful people here... that Minister Herzog is trying to slander them and put them in closed institutions is another sign of the government's despair opposite the ascent of youth who love the land of Israel.”

Hilltop youth are “the most wonderful youth in the land of Israel,” Weiss continued. “They're here because of their love for the land. They sacrifice. They have no demands and no complaints, just loyalty to the land of Israel. anyone who uses negative terminology is speaking out of jealousy and trying to crush this strong spirit, God forbid.”

Herzog's concern that hilltop youth are “out of control” is “Bolshevik,” she said. “What is this term 'control'? Control of what?” Weiss asked.

Weiss predicted that “hilltop youth” would be uninterested in the Welfare Ministry's new institutions. “This is another attempt to crush us and it won't succeed... These youths are healthy, intelligent... they will decide where they want to be, and no white-washed terms like 'safe house' will help Minister Herzog to suppress these wonderful youths,” she said.

Another activist who responded was Daniel Landsberg, himself a young protester in the Peace House who meets Herzog's definition of a “hilltop youth”--a young adult who is not enrolled in an official educational framework, and who spends his time building and strengthening Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.

Landsberg did not agree with Herzog's definition of hilltop youth as dangerous or involved in illegal activities. “We aren't making trouble. We're just wandering around in the land God gave us,” he said. Hilltop youth are not alienated as Herzog seems to believe, he said. He and his friends go home to their families, study, and walk around in the land of Israel, he said.

Herzog is “making a big mistake” by establishing “safe houses” for the youths, Landsberg said. “The people he's talking about, the ones 'without a framework,' they're the best,” he said. “Just because they don't fit his norms doesn't mean they aren't good. These are quality people. They learn Torah, make good use of their time and care about their people,” he said.

Landsberg expressed concern for those youths who are not among the “hilltop youth,” but rather are learning in a formal framework. “The fact that there are youths who sit in school and study all day at this time — that is what isn't right. That they don't come expand our borders and strengthen our connection to the land of Israel.

“Anyone who learns as usual—he's the one who needs a therapeutic framework!” Landsberg continued. “Because a person who sees everything that's going on and his heart doesn't jump up and he doesn't come out to where it's happening and try to change things, that doesn't look normal to me.”