The head of the Binyamin Regional Council and Chairman of the Yesha Council, Yisrael Ganz, revealed during a conversation with Congressman Andy Ogles of Tennessee that bullets had been fired at his home. “They knew I live here. This is a bullet that hit my house. We cannot continue without making decisions, because doing nothing is also a decision. Today there is lawlessness on the ground."
Congressman Ogles visited Binyamin together with his wife at the initiative of the “Yes Israel" organization, founded by Ruth Lieberman and Sarah Paley, in cooperation with Avi Abelow. During the visit, they met with Yisrael Ganz and toured Ancient Shiloh. The tour was led by Eliana Passentin, Head of the Foreign Desk of the Binyamin Regional Council.
During their discussion, Ganz showed him the bullets and said that the current situation cannot continue. “If we do not decide, reality will decide for us. We need to take responsibility and say clearly: this is our land, this is our state. If someone wants to live here, they are welcome to do so under law and order. Why are people afraid of the word sovereignty? It simply means applying the law. Until last week I couldn’t purchase land here, in my own country. It’s absurd."
“We cannot continue living behind a fence and think that it will be enough," Ganz said. He showed the congressman on a map how what he described as Palestinian Authority encroachment in Area C threatens all Israeli residents. “The danger is also to residents of Netanya and Kfar Saba. Before October 7, we had a fence and thought it protected us. It didn’t work. We must not repeat the same mistake."
Ogles responded: “As I understand it, Area C is under Israeli control. Yes, agreements were signed in the past, but in practice the old agreement no longer truly exists. If you look at the map, there is no longer a clear separation between Areas A, B, and C as there once was. When I look at history-from 1967 to October 7-we keep having the same conversation over and over and never reach a long-term solution. Where I come from, we don’t return to the same place to have the same conversation we had a decade earlier."
“Someone needs to talk about the problems. What do you do with 45,000 soldiers or police holding weapons, with RPG launchers and explosive devices? Why are we talking about settlements when there are such severe security problems?"
The congressman added: “The land of the Bible is the historic homeland of the Jewish people. The Jewish connection to Judea and Samaria is not new and not political; it is ancient and rooted in our sources. As written in the Book of Ezekiel: ‘And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land…’ The Jewish people have the right to live in security in their homeland."