Gershon Mesika
Gershon MesikaFlash 90

Gershon Mesika, head of the Samaria Regional Council, took the opportunity Monday morning to urge Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu not to capitulate to the pressures on him to stop building in Judea and Samaria. Mesika called on Netanyahu to strengthen the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, and ignore the voices both within and without Israel calling on him to weaken it.

Mesika was speaking at the inauguration of a new school in the community of Barkan. The school is named for Netanyahu's father, Professor Ben-Zion Netanyahu. The new school was established due to a recent significant growth of young families in Barkan and neighboring towns.

“In front of the hundreds of students here who are relying on him, I call on Prime Minister Netanyahu to strengthen the Jewish communities of this region, as he promised to do before he was elected,” Mesika said. “Do not allow yourself to be pressured. Look at the pioneering work this wonderful generation has accomplished.

“Remember,” Mesika added, “the command and last will of your father to continue building, and your promise to the voter. And remember this: Peace does not mean withdrawal, peace does not mean stealing the home and childhood of a kid. Real peace, as you have often said, means recognition of the rights of each side, willingness to live together side by side, not in the uprooting of communities,” he said.