Gush Etzion celebrations

The Etzion Block was the birthplace of the Jewish Settlement movement. Here our spiritual, religious and political identity was shaped. Here we created cultural values of national and universal significance and exemplified to the world the values of the eternal Book of Books.

Three times in modern history, Jewish residents of the Etzion block have been forcefully exiled: After the Arab pogroms of 1929; after the Arab pogroms of 1936; and on the fourth day of the Jewish month of Iyar, 5708, a day before the establishment of the State of Israel. Each time, the people kept faith throughout their dispersion and never ceased to pray and hope for their return to it and for the restoration in it of their political freedom.

Impelled by this historic and traditional attachment, second and third generations strove in every successive generation to re-establish themselves in their ancient homeland. In recent decades they returned en masse.

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Gush Etzion celebrations

The Etzion Block is open for the absorption of Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of the Exiles; we foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants

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There is no such thing as an illegal outpost

Ariel Sharon instructed our youth to "charge the hilltops". The State allowed water and electricity link-ups, provided infrastructure and roads, encouraged the settlement of the outposts with grants and financial incentives. There is no such thing as an illegal outpost. Some were erected with the State turning a blind eye, some were authorized behind closed doors with a wink or a handshake. But there is no such thing as an illegal outpost.

It is true that Ariel Sharon, as Prime Minister, adopted President Bush's Road Map, and that one of the clauses in the agreement (out of 38 clauses) is that the government of Israel will dismantle settlement outposts erected since March 2001. It is also true that the Road Map is "Performance Based". The very first clause of the Road Map, to be carried out at the outset of Phase I, has yet to be met. It reads: "Palestinian leadership issues unequivocal statement reiterating Israel’s right to exist in peace and security and calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire to end armed activity and all acts of violence against Israelis anywhere. All official Palestinian institutions end incitement against Israel."

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There is no such thing as an illegal outpost

Why is there no Ministerial Committee on the dismantling of illegal Palestinian building prevalent throughout Israeli controlled Area C of Judea and Samaria (such as the one on Jewish outposts)?

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Israel does have friends in Europe

Last week I visited several European capitals and discovered that there are many political groups who consider Israel an integral part of the free world.

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Gaza plan

Israel will start regarding Gaza and the West Bank as two separate entities - the Palestinian Authority jurisdiction will cover the West Bank alone, Gaza will be regarded a hostile, independent political entity - Hamastan.

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No more mixed signals

The State of Israel has been soft on standing up for its right to determine its own capital and soft on negating the unscrupulous position of the international community on Jerusalem.

The UN's double standard on Jerusalem

We have no one to blame but ourselves for the steady decline in the status of Jerusalem as our capital.

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The Middle East is nobody's playground

You can't impose a political solution in the region before you ensure two basic prerequisites: Security for Israelis and prosperity for Palestinians.

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