by WorldTribune Staff, March 30, 2017
Israel’s moral right to land was given to it by the Bible, an Israeli minister said in defending West Bank settlements.
“Defense is important and security is important, but the most important thing is the moral claim of Israel. We are committed to go forward with living in our ancient land, land that was given us not by Google and Wikipedia, but by the Bible,” Communications Minister Tzachi Hanegbi said in Washington on March 28.
Hanegbi spoke at an event hosted by the Council of Jewish Communities of Judea and Samaria to mark the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Six Day War, titled “Celebrate 50 Years of Rejuvenation in Judea and Samaria.”
According to a report by the Jerusalem Post, it “was the first time the council held an event in Washington concurrent with the AIPAC conference to specifically target those attendees, as part of its growing focus on soliciting support abroad for the settlements.”
Housing and Construction Minister Yoav Galant said, “for us, Judea and Samaria is Israel,” adding “there is no way that Israel can exist” without the Jordan Valley and the mountaintops of Samaria.
Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely said there were three quick arguments for placing Area C of the West Bank within Israel’s borders, all of which centered around the word “just,” and then mentioned Israel’s victory in the Six Day War.
“It was a just war. It is a just defense. But the most important one, it was based on a just claim.”
A just claim of the Jewish people on [the Biblical areas of] Beit El, Shechem, Jerusalem and Hebron,” she said.
Area C of the West Bank is outside the boundaries of sovereign Israel, but is under IDF military and civilian rule. The Palestinians believe it will be part of their future state.
“Let me tell you something, if those places are not Jewish, who can tell me that [the modern cities of] Herzliya, Rehovot, Rishon Lezion and Tel Aviv are Jewish,” Hotovely said. “I always say that the occupation is a myth, because we never occupied other people’s land. This is Jewish land [Judea and Samaria]. This should forever be a Jewish land under Israeli law.”
Israeli minister: Moral right to land comes from the Bible, not Google added by World Tribune on
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