Hills of Samaria (illustrative)
Hills of Samaria (illustrative)Israel news photo

A special appreciation evening was held this past week in the Samaria community of Havat Yair for the volunteers of the Samaria tours initiative. The evening was held in honor of the 300th tour that was held in Samaria.

The event was attended by over sixty volunteers who came with their children and their spouses. Also in attendance were Shomron Mayor Gershon Mesika, Benny Katzover who chairs the Samaria Residents’ Council, and Yossi Dagan and Boaz Haetzni who lead the tours.

“The idea behind these tours is to break the perception that has been stuck to us all these years, and specifically with those who, sometimes innocently, stuck this perception onto us,” explained Haetzni. “It doesn’t mean that we need to give up on the activities we do and on what can be described as our deterrent force as a public that doesn’t compromise, but we must also enlist as much legitimacy as possible in order to stand firm on two feet: both legitimacy and public strength.”

Mesika said that the tours are meant to bring those who shape public opinion – politicians, journalists, and public officials – to come and see Samaria up close.

During the event, the participants spoke about their experiences during the tours. A surprise special guest was author and journalist Menachem Ben, who moved a year ago to the community of Nofim after he took a tour of Samaria.

“I’ve always loved the Jewish communities and I’ve always loved Samaria from the biblical point of view,” Ben told Arutz Sheva. “This is a wonderful place. Samaria is pure, and that purity is contagious.”

Ben said that when people ask him if sees himself as a ‘settler,’ he answers: “Yes, I see myself as a ‘settler,’ but I’m one who came to the comfort of this place and I have a lot of respect and humility for the first settlers who underwent all this suffering with a lot of love, truthfulness and dedication. I feel I owe them gratitude and I hope that we don’t give away one meter of this region to anybody.”

The tours project has taken place over the last two years, during which time a wide variety of people have come to see Samaria. These have included about half of the government ministers and MKs from all sides of the political map, more than 500 journalists, analysts, news anchors and authors. More than a 1,000 people have participated in these tours so far.

“I’m very satisfied because many times I get to see spontaneous reactions,” said Benny Katzover. “Har Kabir is an outstanding place. It has a combination of roots, policy, geography, the width of the State, and a remarkable view. People are awed by all these things and they often can’t help but telling me: ‘We never even thought that it’s like this. You’ve completely turned our minds around.’”

Katzover added that he believes that “The key is Jewish identity. They’re looking for a message of Jewish identity.”