Yael Zar, the widow of Samaria land redeemer Moshe Zar, who passed away two months ago, spoke at the Samaria Sovereignty Conference of Arutz Sheva and the Samaria Council about how her husband began to act to advance de facto sovereignty already after the Six-Day War.
"When Judea and Samaria were liberated, Moshe set himself a goal: sovereignty over territories in the whole Land of Israel. He bought from every Arab who offered him land. He was very well liked by them and very sociable. They loved him, trusted him, he never cheated them, he paid whatever price they asked and always exchanged their money at an Arab money changer so they would have dinars. There was complete trust in him. They all came secretly to sell land," she reveals.
"We lived in a mobile home in Karnei Shomron and at night they would come secretly. It happened that several Arabs met with him together that evening, and they hid from one another, but they all came and knew there sat a man who respected them and did not want anything for free. For Moshe, and for me, this was the imposition of sovereignty over the territories of the whole Land of Israel," she adds.
Yael shared a story that a member of Knesset told her during the period of mourning for Moshe. "He told me, 'I followed Moshe, I saw him buying land nonstop. I called him and asked him, 'How are you buying? Don't you know what will happen to these territories in the end?' ' He answered, 'I know what I am buying. And to me, the very fact that I am redeeming land for the State of Israel is the point. I don't care if an Arab lives on them for now; eventually they will belong to the whole Land of Israel and I am the one who redeemed them.' That MK added and told me, 'I suddenly began to see him in a different light. I saw an honest man, I saw an idealist of stature, and since then I began, even somewhat secretly at times, to help him,'" she recounted.
"Moshe often said, 'I am doing work the state should have done. I am preparing for sovereignty,'" Zar said.
In her remarks she also referred to the current state of construction in Judea and Samaria. "I think the settlement world should move toward sovereignty. People should feel like citizens in their country."