Hotovely and Foreign Ministry cadets in Shomron
Hotovely and Foreign Ministry cadets in ShomronSpokesman

Participants in the Foreign Ministry cadet's course toured Samaria today with Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely.

During the tour, the cadets, who will soon embark on diplomatic missions, arrived at the Mount Kabir observation point, where they received a diplomatic briefing from the Deputy Minister.

"Israel is in a new political era when the idea of ​​applying Israeli law to Judea and Samaria becomes practical," Hotovely said. "The words of Ambassador Friedman that annexing part of the territory is possible are part of an historical opportunity that won't be repeated.

"I want you to leave this place with a diplomatic toolbox that first of all contains an understanding of our deep belonging to this country, alongside the understanding that settlement in Judea and Samaria is as moral as the Zionist enterprise of Rehovot and Tel Aviv," she said.

Hotovely presented the cadets with possible diplomatic solutions and talked about diplomatic achievements of recent years: Jerusalem recognition, embassy transfer and American recognition of the Golan Heights "as part of a process in which the international community recognizes the just outcome of the Six-Day War."

She says the Disengagement failure and subsequent transformation of Gaza into a terror nest has led many parts of the Israeli public to understand that dividing the land cannot be a political solution: "As far as Judea and Samaria are concerned, this isn't about annexing foreign territory, but about applying the law to parts of the homeland. You are being asked to represent the State of Israel in a political age when there is a message and vision, and no more withdrawals."

Cadets met with settlement leadership personages. On Mount Kabir they received a briefing by Benny Katzover, who told participants about the beginnings of settlement in Samaria and challenges facing the settlers today. At the yeshiva in Elon Moreh, Rabbi Elyakim Levanon spoke to them about the Biblical aspects of the connection between Israel and Judea and Samaria, and at the IDF Judea and Samaria Division they received a military review from Division Operations Officer Major Alon Hanuni.

Shomron Regional Council head Yossi Dagan met with the cadets at the Barkan observation post, surveyed the Samaria area, its diverse population, its wide boundaries, and its size. "What's important is to present reality as it is; but to present it, we have to know it,. To know that we have a right to this land - that is your mission. And I urge you to bring here, when you reach the positions you are intended for, public opinion leaders and parliamentarians; we'll help you in what's needed to enable them to see reality as it really is."