Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Gutnick, the Australian businessman known as the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s Shliach for matters of the integrity of the Land of Israel, conducted a special visit recently to Judea and Samaria together with Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council.
The highlight of the visit took place at the “Gutnick Center,” named after the Chabad businessman, in the community of Peduel, Samaria.
The Gutnick Center is home to the famous lookout known as “The Balcony of the State,” which recently made headlines after former U.S. President Donald Trump shared on his official social media accounts the council’s announcement that the lookout would be named the “Trump Lookout.”
“Now is the perfect time for sovereignty in Judea and Samaria,” Gutnick told Dagan. “Today, everyone understands the enormous importance of these territories for the security of the entire country. Everything must be done to declare full sovereignty.” Gutnick and Dagan discussed strengthening Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria, particularly now, in light of the ongoing fighting in Gaza and on other fronts.
Gutnick further told Dagan and other senior figures in the region: “We must not miss this opportunity with the Americans. Unfortunately, we see the price of hesitation with the Iranians, and we hope we have not missed the hour.”
Gutnick also stressed that “one day, it will be imperative to thoroughly investigate the events of October 7th, objectively, as this is a matter of pikuach nefesh—saving lives—that can prevent future disasters.”
During a meeting with bereaved families who lost loved ones in the horrific massacre, Gutnick read an emotional post that went viral among Diaspora Jews. The post read, in part: “This war is not being fought by politicians or polished spokespeople. It’s being fought by real people—19-year-olds, fathers, women who were planning weddings, not funerals.”
The post continued: “In Israel, when a soldier falls, it’s not just a headline. It’s a friend, a neighbor, a cousin. The whole community mourns. You go to a shiva, and half the city is there, because everyone knew him—he was at your son’s bar mitzvah, sat behind you in synagogue, coached soccer on Sundays.”
On the personal and national toll, it said: “They don’t want revenge. They just want to live. To see their families again. To come home. And yet, they are called monsters, murderers, oppressors—as if they chose this, as if they asked for this war.”
Rabbi Gutnick connected the words of the post to the central message of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, who saw the integrity of the Land of Israel as a matter of literal pikuach nefesh.
He emphasized that the struggle for the Land of Israel is not merely political, but a spiritual and existential mission for the Jewish people. “When we fight for this land, we are fighting for our soul as a nation,” Gutnick said.