As part of its program of reaching out to members of Israeli society who might not be familiar with Jewish life in Judea and Samaria, the Yesha Council over the weekend hosted Hilik Bar, chairman of the Labor Party. Bar was accompanied by top Labor officials and accompanied by Yesha (Judea and Samaria) Council officials, toured important sites in the regions.
The tour began in the Barkan Industrial Zone, with Bar and Labor officials witnessing first-hand the meaning of “co-existence,” as the entourage visited several factories where Jewish and Arab workers labored together. During that portion of the visit, Bar met with Samaria Regional Council head Gershon Mesika. From Barkan, the group moved onto the Yovel neighborhood of Eli, where several homes have been slated for demolition by the High Court, on charges that they were illegally built.
The group then visited a major archaeological excavation at Tel Shilo, which was the capital of Jewish life for 400 years, before King David established his government in Jerusalem. There Bar met with Danny Dayan, chairman of the Yesha Council. Dayan praised Bar for undertaking the visit, and his honest efforts to get to know the Jewish communities of Judea and Samaria.
At Elon Moreh, Bar and the Labor officials visited, along with Benny Katzover, the lookout view site on Mount Kabir, from which the entire coastal plain is visible. Bar was so impressed by the scene that he had his group photographed at the site, holding a large Labor Party sign. The visit wrapped up at Ariel University, where the group was impressed by the technological achievements and developments of the staff and students in Israel's newest institution of higher education.
Speaking after the visit, Bar said that “Judea and Samaria is the land of our fathers and the land of the Bible, and the Labor Party and its members are not ignorant of what this region represents to Jewish history and religion. It is incumbent upon all of us to preserve the tradition of our ancestors and transmit them on to the coming generations. The Labor Party is at the center of Israel's political map, not at its extreme left, and its job is to adopt the path of social liberalism with a centrist defense and security policy. We are closer to the residents of Judea and Samaria than we are to the far left.
“What has been built in Yesha is important, and seeing it today reminds us that much of it was built by the Labor Party and its leaders. The right cannot teach us about Zionism and the value of settlement,” Bar continued. “The residents of Yesha are an important and central component of the State of Israel and the Jewish people, and we must battle ignorance and understand this in order to prevent a schism in the nation. We are all brothers. When peace or a political settlement arrives, even if we are required to give up some territory, we must continue investing in Yesha and bring it closer to the center of the country, physically and mentally.”
Yesha Council head Danny Dayan expressed his satisfaction with the tour as well, and thanked Bar for coming. “Even if we disagree on some things, the ability to speak, meet, and understand one another is essential, especially during challenging times. We see ourselves as the inheritors of the tradition of Labor settlers who, in many cases, set the borders of the country. We are, in many ways, students of this approach,” Dayan said.