While the international community continues to pressure the Israeli government to surrender territory to the Palestinian Authority, Yaakov “Katzaleh” Katz, a Yom Kippur War hero and leader of the Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria (Yesha), is optimistic about the continued Jewish growth in Judea and Samaria.

 

In a New Year's interview with Israel National Radio’s Yehuda HaKohen, Katzaleh spoke at length of his experiences in an elite commando unit during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, and as a leader in the Gush Emunim movement building Jewish communities in the lands liberated by the Israel Defense Forces during the 1967 Six Day War.

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While listing the many thriving cities and towns in Judea and Samaria, Katzaleh expressed certainty that despite the enormous pressure from world leaders to destroy these communities, the process of Jewish settlement in these areas is irreversible.

 

Katzaleh spoke of his relationship with former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and how the two men worked together from 1990-1992 to multiply Jewish housing in Israel’s heartland - Yesha.



Katzaleh (left) with Ariel Sharon in the early days of Beit El

 

At the outset of those two years, then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir appointed Sharon housing minister who, in turn, appointed Katzaleh to be one of his close deputies. According to Katzaleh, the fact that American satellites were busy over Iraq monitoring the Gulf War gave Israel an opportunity to expand Jewish housing in Yesha.

 

While Katzaleh acknowledged that Sharon later betrayed the Land of Israel and the two fell out of touch, Katzaleh insisted on still giving Sharon credit for the good that he did, both for the Jewish nation and for Katzaleh personally. When Katzaleh was wounded by a direct hit from an Egyptian RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) during the Yom Kippur War, it was Sharon who sent his personal helicopter to rescue his soldier and get him to a hospital in time to be saved.

 

When asked what advice he would give to the Jewish youth who are eager to participate in the struggle for the Land of Israel but whose efforts are constantly thwarted by the authorities, Katzaleh answered:

 

“It won’t take too long before this regime is replaced…  Right now we have some problems, but we continue. We have so many towns and cities which we are continuing to build. And in the new outlying neighborhoods, we are continuing and they cannot stop us in most of the places… The Peace Now movement and other extremist groups are busy with the outlying neighborhoods but meanwhile we are building in the main cities… When you look at the end of the year and see that the growth was over 35,000 Jews, we can be proud. They are always in shock when they see that no matter what kind of problems they do to us, they don’t succeed because the growth is continuing and every few years we have another 100,000 Jews in Yesha.”

 

Katzaleh’s overall message on the radio interview was one of deep faith and optimism. Drawing from his experience as a participant in many of the most significant events and political battles of modern Israeli history, he offered a bracing view of where the State of Israel is headed despite the many problems and temporary setbacks that overwhelm the Jewish towns in Yesha on a day-to-day level.