‘The Palestinian Authority is seizing hill after hill while Israel does nothing’

MK Gideon Sa’ar visited Amichai, one of the only settlements that is still expanding.

By Hezki Baruch, INN

MK Gideon Sa’ar in Amichai

MK Gideon Sa’ar of the Likud party visited the communities of Amichai and Shilo, in the Binyamin region, on Sunday. The focus of his visit was on ongoing attempts by the Palestinian Authority to seize control over open areas near Israeli settlements.

Following his tour, Sa’ar told his hosts, “I was very impressed by what I saw today in Amichai, but especially by the pioneering spirit that you are exhibiting here, after many years during which no new settlements were established in Judea or Samaria. This is the way in which we need to pursue and expand settlement.”

He added that, “The Palestinian Authority is engaged in an ongoing battle to seize land. This is a very aggressive battle, funded by the European Union, well planned and organized, and the State of Israel needs to respond to this. The way to do so is via what you are doing here – expanding Israeli communities – and my hope is that you will become an example for the rest of Judea and Samaria.”

The heads of the “Forum for Zion and Jerusalem” within the Likud party, Avichai Boaron and Doron Nir Tzvi, also spoke following the tour, echoing Sa’ar’s remarks.

“Israeli lawyers have basically adopted the failed positions of the political echelon, and are making no attempt to extricate us from the terms of the Oslo Accords,” they said, stressing the quasi-farcical situation. “On the one hand, the Palestinians declare that they aren’t bound by the Oslo Accords and don’t recognize them. And on the other hand, our own lawyers say that Israel must abide by the Oslo Accords, because the politicians haven’t decided otherwise.

“Meanwhile,” they added, “the Arabs are gaining control over hill after hill – and they don’t care if it’s in Area B or C. And Israel isn’t doing a thing in response.”

Boaron and Nir Tzvi both emphasized that, “As a result of a decade of activity on the part of the Palestinians, more and more Israeli communities have found themselves encircled while we were asleep on duty. This must be stopped immediately – we have to be the ones settling the Land.”