Day-to-day workers, encouraged by mainstream media and senior business, political and military leaders, often spread misinformation to the public, believing that Judea and Samaria have no legal standing in Israel.
Two recent incidents occurred at a rental car agency and a gas station. A resident of a community in central Israel was shocked to discover that he could not rent a car because he wanted to visit Samaria. Eitan Zinger told Arutz-7 that shortly before he was to sign the papers prior to his to receiving the keys and begin his trip, the Cal Auto rental car agency clerk asked if he intended to travel in Judea and Samaria.
“I expected an answer that so long as I did not drive in areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority [Area A, where Jews are forbidden to enter], there is no problem," he reported. "However, it turned out that Cal Auto has determined new borders for Israel, and the clerk told me that the insurance does not apply outside of the 1949-1967 Armistice Lines," now known as the Green Line.
The clerk, making sure there was no misunderstanding, confidently added, “The trip is only for travel within Israel. Land beyond the Green Line is not part of Israel and you cannot drive there.”
Zinger rented a car from another company that does not try to redefine Israel’s borders, and Cal Auto official Rena Woronkov apologized for the incident, saying that that the clerk misunderstood company policy. She told Arutz-7 that the company will take measures to make sure that other customers do not run into the same problem.
Another case of misinformation occurred in Be’er Sheva, the “capital of the Negev.” A gas station attendant, recently released from the army, asked a customer where he lived. When she heard that the driver is a resident of Judea and Samaria, she replied, “It is illegal to live there. That is what I was told when I was in the army.”
The driver assured the surprised worker that the government actually encouraged people to live in communities in Judea and Samaria.