Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan is currently hosting twelve of his counterparts in order to familiarize them with Israel. The UN ambassadors came to Israel with their spouses as guests of Ambassador Erdan. They hailed from Albania, Argentina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Ecuador, Hungary, Nauru, Palau, Samoa, South Korea, Uruguay and Zambia.
As part of their visit, they held a long meeting Sunday with Binyamin Regional Council head Israel Ganz, whom Erdan had invited to speak about the development of the Jewish towns and villages in the regional council and about what it is like living there.
The meeting lasted about two hours, during which the ambassadors displayed interest in the Jewish towns and villages in all of Judea and Samaria. Ganz showed the visitors the data on the development of the towns and villages and explained why the two-state solution is not viable.
“Whoever talks about the two-state solution is not up to date. Preserving stability in this region will require other solutions. You play an important role in that. When you discuss the establishment of a Palestinian state, that plants false hope among the Arabs and they increase their violence and acts of terror against us,” said Ganz.
The regional council head detailed the development of infrastructure in the Judea and Samaria region and called on the members to help him in developing the roads and highways.
“I am promoting the paving of roads that will improve life for the entire population. Why do I have to be confronted with obstacles? You should be helping me and be partners in this work. I call on you to be more active and to create other joint efforts,” he said.
The escalation in the security situation in Judea and Samaria was also discussed. Israel Ganz told the ambassadors, “The silence of the countries and the international community serves as a tailwind for Arab terror. We do not hear any countries calling on the Arabs to desist, and that gives them the feeling that they have your support. The Palestinian Authority feeds off of this silence and encourages the terrorists, and we are paying the price, both in terms of the victims and their destroyed families.” Ganz also warned against the libels spread by radical leftist organizations against Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria, and said that most of the material the ambassadors have received from those organizations is fabricated, "based on lies and incitement against those residents."
The conversation at the meeting was congenial and positive throughout and the ambassadors thanked Ganz profusely for their first opportunity to hear about the reality on the ground from a primary source. “We were deeply impressed by your connection to the land. We are leaving here wiser and this was a very valuable meeting for us," was how they summed up the visit.