The managers and employees of the Ramat HaNegev local authority in southern Israel visited their counterparts in Samaria Tuesday, as guests of Samaria Authority Head Gershon Mesika and the authority's Strategic Unit.
Shaul Levy, the Ramat HaNegev Authority Head, hinted to Arutz Sheva TV that most of his employees had never visited the region because it resides beyond the "Green Line” that separates pre-1967 Israel from the area liberated in the Six Day War. However, he noted, the Samaria Authority functions “just like any other authority.” He said that the visit is not political, but that it expresses "love for the Land of Israel."
Most of the Ramat HaNegev communities are either kibbutzim (communal settlements) or moshavim (agricultural settlements) that belong historically and politically to the Avoda (Labor) Movement. This movement is largely opposed to the existence of Jewish communities in the Biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria.
Mesika praised the Ramat HaNegev settlers for their pioneering deeds in previous decades, which he called "an inspiration." He also mentioned the common challenges faced by Jewish authorities in Samaria and the Negev: security problems and illegal Arab construction.