A year and a half after signing an agreement with the government, according to which a yeshiva would be established in Evyatar, a hilltop community in the Samaria Region, and a year after a survey found that the yeshiva can be established immediately, the government has yet to hold up its end of the agreement.
The leaders of the fight for Evyater, Nahala movement chairperson Daniela Weiss and Tzvi Elimelech, together with Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan and Samaria Chief Rabbi Elyakim Levanon visited the home of senior Religious Zionist rabbi, Rabbi Chaim Druckman, on Thursday.
Rabbi Druckman, who had received the promise from Defense Minister Benny Gantz (National Unity) to build Evyatar, stated: "We received a promise regarding Evyatar, that was a year ago, and until now it hasn't been fulfilled; promises must be kept. That's the basics of man. Being trustworthy and keeping promises, and that is what we expect now, too."
Samaria Region Chief Rabbi, Rabbi Elaykim Levanon, who was also involved in the agreement, stated: "We sat here with Yossi [Dagan] and Rabbi Druckman spoke on the phone with Benny Gantz. And Benny promised that he will uphold his word. We agreed on this promise, and the people of Evyatar left with consent, and it was a terrible sacrifice. We trusted his word, I personally feel insulted when a public figure says something and doesn't stand behind it. For a year he's made us come and go, and he hasn't stood by his word, it's personally offensive, it's offensive to the nation of Israel and offensive to Evyatar. I expect that the current Defense Minister or whoever succeeds him, keep his promise."
Nahala movement chairperson Daniela Weiss mentioned something that Gantz had said during one of their meetings: "During a meeting between Rabbi Levanon, Tzvi Elimelech, Yossi Dagan, and the Defense Minister, the matter of Evyatar's strategic position was raised. It's in a seemingly unimportant place, and the Defense Minister said that if the area has top strategic importance, there's no sense in keeping the place unprotected. Thank G-d the army is there, but we pulled 53 families out of there, it has come time we build a glorious town there."