More than 130 young Likud activists toured the Samaria (Shomron) region recently. They were hosted by Shomron Mayor Gershon Mesika.
The activists were accompanied by a special guest, Education Minister Gideon Saar, who joined the tour and also gave a lecture on Elon Moreh using Biblical and historical sources.
The tour, guided by Yossi Dagan, advisor to Shomron Regional Council head Gershon Mesika, and Boaz HaEtzni, was organized by the “Younger Generation in the Likud” movement, headed by Ariel Morali.
The itinerary included:
- The community of Barkan
- The Barkan industrial area
- A tour of Ariel, including a meeting with Mayor Ron Nachman
- A visit to the community of Itamar and a tour of the Givot Olam farm
- A tasting of wines made in the Tura vineyard in the Samaria community of Har Bracha
From there, the group continued to the community of Elon Moreh and to the nearby Har Kabir nature reserve. It was in Elon Moreh that Saar gave his lecture using the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible).
Saar, who began by reading the verses in the book of Genesis which describe the historic covenant between G-d and Abraham, said, “The building of the altar by Abraham in Elon Moreh shows without a doubt that these places are the birthplace of the Jewish people.”
He said that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu “is a friend of the settlement movement, and he works as head of the state in a very complex arena. All in all he navigates things in the right direction and that’s how I see it.
“To all those who talk about concessions in Jerusalem or in Hevron, what we learn from reality is that every place where Israel does not rule is not a place in which freedom of worship can take place for members of all religions. That is perhaps the most important thing to say at this moment.”
The Education Minister emphasized to the young Likud activists, “The Jewish residents are not here on their own mission. First of all, they’re on a mission on behalf of the Israeli people. The settlement movement, and today we have a very good yet painful way of seeing this, keeps the security of the people of Israel. We saw what happened after the disengagement, and we saw how Hamas based itself inside the Gaza Strip.”