​The Significance of Sovereignty in Judea and Samaria – A view from the Field

The Sovereignty Movement held 2 days ago another tour for public-opinion shapers, where they encountered various challenges, including environmental, cultural and economic challenges.

24-02-2022

The Sovereignty Movement, under the leadership of Yehudit Katsover and Nadia Matar, continues its series of tours for public-opinion shapers and public figures throughout the country, and following an extensive tour of the Negev, the next in line was a tour of Judea and Samaria.

The tour, led by Yigal Dilmoni, CEO of the YESHA Council, began with a visit to the Psagot Winery where, against the scenery of King Solomon’s first battle, Ya’akov Berg, the winery’s manager, spoke about the international legal battle that the winery fought against the demand of BDS organizations to boycott products from Judea and Samaria and mark the labels with “Product of an occupied area”, which would encourage the boycott and raise the price of the product considerably.

Berg said that despite the legal victory, which prevented the need to label products of the settlements in countries of the European Union, there is still a similar legal issue in Canada. However, the chances of success already seem greater than in the European arena.

Middle East expert Dr. Moti Kedar related, from his experience as a highly sought-after interviewee in the Arabic media, of how to view the Israeli-Palestinian battle as a historical, religious battle, of which the territorial battle is only a small part. 

“There are much deeper layers here, but in many Israeli circles, they refuse to understand these things, they close their eyes and see only the topmost layer of the dispute, the territorial layer”. 

The only possible answer for independent life, says Dr. Kedar, is to take a strong position, which will lead the Muslims to conclude, anchored  in Islam, that they can sign a temporary peace agreement, and Israel’s job is to be strong enough for what is temporary to become permanent…

The tour progressed to its next stop, and on the way, Yigal Dilmoni presented how the PA is working to implement the Fiyyad Plan for the planned and orchestrated takeover of Area C by illegal agricultural and building initiatives, backed by immense European funding, while the Civil Administration, which is supposed to represent Israeli interests, does not do so and in various ways even helps the PA to establish facts on the ground and establish a state de facto, even though there is no agreement with Israel.

According to him, approximately 75,000 illegal buildings have been erected in recent years by the PA as part of this process and in fact, every day, five such buildings are erected. 

Dilmoni directed his especially harsh criticism toward the Civil Administration’s lax  and oblivious attitude toward illegal Palestinian quarries, which enjoy relaxed requirements and other benefits. In his estimation, someone is earning huge amounts because of this.

The tour stopped at Wadi Haramiya for a briefing on the matter of environmental quality. Iche Meir, former CEO of the Samaria Cities’ Association for Environmental Quality, described the significance of pollution to the Mountain Ridge Aquifer from the sewage and waste emanating from the villages and cities of the PA on the streams that descend to the coastal plain and the influence on life in Gush Dan.

Israel’s attempts to find solutions have met with consistent rejection by the PA and stubbornness by the Civil Administration, which has the mindset of a “temporary belligerent holding”, according to which, Israel’s presence in Judea and Samaria is temporary.

Noam Arnon, spokesman for the Jewish community in Hevron, presented examples of this lack of action in his area where the PA refuses to allow any central treatment of waste arriving from Hevron and this makes its way 200 kilometers via Wadi Habesor to Wadi Be’er Sheva, polluting the entire area that it passes through. 

Yigal Dilmoni continued, noting that while in “Small Israel” , the area between the towns is under the responsibility of some authority, in Judea and Samaria, the responsibility of the counties applies only within the towns themselves and beyond them, the matter is totally neglected.

The participants of the tour ascended to the observation point at Kfar Tapuah, where they heard a briefing on the problems relating to transportation that have not been addressed thoroughly for many years and was based on roads from the Ottoman period. 

Matanya Shapira,  Deputy CEO of  YESHA Council, described the freeze on development of roads despite the increase in Jewish and Arab population in the area. 

Later, he described new plans for development that were decided upon a few years ago and are now in the midst of development and paving for the benefit of all residents.

Shapira noted the decisions that were made, to design a master plan for transportation in Judea and Samaria, which includes a long-range plan until 2050, divided into five parts. This follows decades in which Judea and Samaria had no real plan besides bypass roads that were paved as a result of the Oslo Accords and minor local adjustments.

The tour continued to the Ariel University, where the participants heard a brief talk on research and development done mostly on the geographic area of the university, but its results have an influence on the entire Land and even beyond. 

One of the matters begin researched in the Department of Agriculture is ancient varieties of grapevines in Judea and Samaria. This research follows a few hundred years when grapes were not grown in these areas because of the Muslim occupation, but it has been renewed in recent decades by vintners from the settlement enterprise.

The research collected varieties of vines from the entire area and identified 600 ancient varieties of grapevines of which 150 types were unknown species and do not exist in the world at all.

 In the university’s laboratories, correct methods of cultivation for these varieties are investigated with the aim of developing high-quality products that will win wine competitions throughout the world.

Economist Eran Bar-Tal, delivered a lecture for the participants of the tour on the economic benefits of applying Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria, dividing the matter into key issues of the value of land, entrepreneurship and capital as key engines of growth. Bar-Tal proved that sovereignty would benefit the general population in Judea and Samaria, and in his opinion, sovereignty should be a basic requirement for anyone interested in human rights.

Bar-Tal also dealt with the dramatic ramifications of applying sovereignty on the price of housing in the center of the country.

 He concluded his remarks by stating “Sovereignty is the economic solution that would bring income to the country, in stark contrast to the claims that sovereignty would be costly”.

The tour concluded with a visit to the Lipsky Factory in Barkan, which produces plastic for the entire country and countries throughout the world. 

The plant manager, Yehuda Cohen, told of the equal integration  of Jewish and Arab workers and managers in his plant. The economy, he is convinced, is the true basis for a life of co-existence.

Former Member of Knesset Shuli Mualem-Refaeli, who was among the participants of the tour, concluded: “Today, in this tour of Judea and Samaria with the Sovereignty Movement, we investigated the question of applying sovereignty from various angles – substantive, demographic, economic and social. We were gladdened by the progress in the plan for roads, we were impressed by the developments in research and its contribution to humanity in Ariel University, and above all, we sharpened our understanding that we must speak out loudly for our rights to the Land and the unbreakable connection between the People of Israel and its Land.

 It is totally clear to me that sovereignty in Judea and Samaria will happen, and I am working toward making it happen as soon as possible”.

Former Deputy Minister Rav Eli Ben Dahan also participated in the tour, and it was noted that he also worked for the settlement enterprise in his role as deputy  defense minister. 

Regarding his impressions from the tour, he said: “I was glad to see the momentum of development in Judea and Samaria on one hand, but on the other, how the lack of sovereignty and governance is felt in the area. 

Without sovereignty, matters of the environment, water and maintaining the open areas will not progress or be comparable to Smaller Israel. The time has come for sovereignty”.

The co-chairwomen of the Sovereignty Movement, Yehudit Katsover and Nadia Matar, view the series of tours as “an integral part of public opinion shaping in a basic and practical way toward realizing the Zionist vision, the application of Israeli sovereignty over all parts of its Land”. 

The two women emphasize that “The vision of sovereignty, which, in the past was considered delusional, is now accepted as an essential foundation for stability and security in the entire state of Israel, and now, we must progress toward it with responsibility and a complete and sober view of the vision and faith in the justice of our cause”.

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