Category: About Us
Shocking Massacre in Itamar
Wednesday, March 16, 2011 By Avi Yishai
In one of the most horrific terrorist attacks in recent years, a father, mother and three young hildren were murdered in their home last Shabbos in the northern West Bank community of Itamar, not far from Sh’chem. The victims were Rabbi Udi Fogel, hy”d, 36, his wife Rut, hy”d, 35, along with their three-month-old infant girl, Hadas, hy”d, and two boys, Elad, hy”d, 4, and Yoav, hy”d, 11.
They were brutally stabbed to death by two terrorists who had jumped the town’s security fence. The electronic sensors in the fence registered the intrusion, but a security guard who investigated dismissed it as a false alarm. The terrorists also broke into the empty house of a neighbor who was on vacation before entering the Fogel home.
The terrorists overlooked two other Fogel boys, Ro’i, 8, and Yishai, 2 who were asleep when their home was invaded. The third Fogel child to survive was their 12 year-old-daughter, Tamar, who was at the house of a neighbor, Rabbi and Mrs. Yaakov Cohen when the attack took place. She was the first to discover that something was wrong when she went home later and was surprised to find the front door locked.
They were brutally stabbed to death by two terrorists who had jumped the town’s security fence. The electronic sensors in the fence registered the intrusion, but a security guard who investigated dismissed it as a false alarm. The terrorists also broke into the empty house of a neighbor who was on vacation before entering the Fogel home.
The terrorists overlooked two other Fogel boys, Ro’i, 8, and Yishai, 2 who were asleep when their home was invaded. The third Fogel child to survive was their 12 year-old-daughter, Tamar, who was at the house of a neighbor, Rabbi and Mrs. Yaakov Cohen when the attack took place. She was the first to discover that something was wrong when she went home later and was surprised to find the front door locked.
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At the kevurah on Har Hamenuchos. –AFP/Getty Images
The evening had started with an Oneg Shabbos for Tamar and her friends, including Rabbi Cohen’s daughter, at the Fogel home, including a dvar Torah given by Rut Fogel. The Oneg broke up around 10 pm, and as was the custom, the girls walked one another to their homes. When Tamar finally returned to her house after 12, she was surprised to find muddy tracks, and the front door to the house locked.
She then returned to the Cohen home and asked her friend to wake her father, who is a rebbi at a yeshiva in Itamar, and ask him for help.
“The girls woke me up, I grabbed a weapon in case it was necessary, and when we got to the house we saw traces of mud everywhere,”Rabbi Cohen said.
They then saw through a window Tamar’s brother Ro’i, sleeping on the couch in the living room, and made enough noise to wake him up. When he came to the door to let his sister in, Rabbi Cohen turned around and returned home, thinking that the situation was resolved. He returned moments later when Tamar discovered the massacre and ran from the house, shreiking.
Cohen at first did not think the incident was terrorist-related, “but when the daughter entered and screamed in horror, I realized something terrible had happened. I fired two bullets into the air to alert the security guards, searched the house and found the boy who opened the door, and the two-year-old who was sleeping in the parents’ room.”
A HORRIFIC SCENE
First aid paramedics rushed to the scene, and were confronted with a horrific scene of bloody slaughter. Paramedic Kabaha Muayua described what he saw: “We could not help the first four stabbing victims. Following an inspection of the scene I spotted a young child (Elad) who still had a pulse. We engaged in lengthy resuscitation efforts but had to pronounce him dead. The murder scene was shocking. Kids’ toys right next to pools of blood.”
The two parents and the three-month-old baby were found in the master bedroom. According to the army and Shin Bet, the terrorists entered the home through the picture window in the living room, overlooked the child sleeping on the couch under some blankets, and entered the master bedroom. The terrorists first attacked the father, and the infant sleeping in the father’s bed, slashing their throats.
Apparently, the mother was in the bathroom at the time. She was attacked when she opened the bathroom door, and after trying to fight back, fell mortally wounded at the threshhold.
The terrorists then murdered the 11-year-old who was reading in his bed, and stabbed the 4-year-old boy twice in the chest. The terrorists locked the front door and left the way they came. They then escaped over the same point of the electronic security fence where they had entered, more than two and a half hours earlier, still undetected by the town’s security force.
Army trackers did not arrive at the scene until more than an hour after the terrorists escaped. They found tracks leading to the nearby Arab village of Avrata. By that time, the murderers were long gone.
ITAMAR’S HISTORIC VIEW
Itamar is one of four West Bank communities, including Bracha,Yitzhar and Elon Moreh, located on mountainsides overlooking Har Grizim and Har Eval. In addition to its yeshivos, the town is known as a center of organic farming, whose products are marketed all over Israel. Many residents earn their living by raising olives, goats and sheep, and by marketing derivative products, such as cheese and olive oil.
The Fogel family had originally lived in the Gaza community of Netzarim. After they were removed from their home during the 2005 disengagement, they moved to Ariel and then to Itamar. Rabbi Fogel was a rebbe in the Yeshiva Gavoah of Rabbi Avichai Ronsky, former Chief Rabbi of the Israeli Army. His wife, Ruti was a teacher in the nearby settlement of Ma’ale Levonah.
PREVIOUS ATTACKS
The town has been the target of major attacks before. In June, 2002, a terrorist armed with an assault rifle entered Itamar and barricaded himself in the home of the Sabo family. He shot and killed Rachel Sabo, hy”d, and three of her seven children, Neriya, hy”d, age 15, Tzvi, hy”d, age 12, and Avishai, hy”d, age 5. Yossi Twito, hy”d, who commanded the settlement’s security team, was also shot to death when he arrived and charged toward the Sabo house during the attack.
The previous month, another terrorist infiltrated the settlement’s fence. He reached the basketball court of Itamar’s Chitzim yeshiva high school, where he shot and killed Gilad Stieglitz, hy”d, a 14-year-old talmid, and wounded another student. The terrorist then entered the yeshiva building, where he shot and killed two more talmidim, Netanel Riachi, hy”d, and Avraham Siton, hy”d. The terrorist was eventually shot and killed by one of the yeshiva’s dorm counselors.
In July 2002, a terrorist armed with two knives broke into the home of David and Orna Mimran and tried to stab them. Although wounded, they successfully fought back and survived. The terrorist was ultimately shot and killed by an army officer.
The only other major terrorist incident after that took place in August 2004, when Shlomo Miller, who had replaced Twito as the town’s security coordinator, was shot and killed by an Arab.
NEW SECURITY ARRANGEMENTTS
After the 2002 attacks, Itamar’s security was beefed up with an advanced electronic security surveillance fence, as well as an inner barbed wire fence. The fences are patrolled and maintained by settlement security officials and six private security guards, including two on duty at a central security office, to monitor the fence sensors.
Since the 2006 Second Lebanon War, the army has significantly reduced the size of its forces on active duty in the West Bank at any one time, in light of the significant reduction of the number of terrorist attacks, and the need for more soldier training time.
Today, army patrols in the West Bank are designed to maintain “peripheral security,” between settlements, while leaving routine patrols within settlement boundaries to their own security guards. However, army forces are supposed to be nearby at all times and arrive within minutes when local security guards raise the alarm that an intrusion has taken place.
Settlements are usually patrolled by civilian security teams, reinforced by private guards from companies such as Modi’in Ezrachi. Because Itamar is so close to Sh’chem, and near a number of hostile Arab villages, its six-man security team is larger than those found in most settlements.
MOST RECENT ATTACKS HAVE BEEN BY AMATEURS
Over the past two years, most West Bank terrorist attacks have been carried out by individual Arabs with little skill or training The Army and Shin Bet have succeeded in capturing or killing most of the wanted terrorists in the area, in part thanks to the increased security cooperation of the Palestinian Authority.
In recent weeks, friction between the Jews and Arabs on the West Bank had increased, leading to warnings by army and security experts of an increased likelihood of a terrorist attack.
NOT ANOTHER FALSE ALARM
On Friday night, the initial breach of the security fence was registered at the central control room at 8:59 pm. One of the private guards was sent to the site to look for a cut in the fence, but the terrorists had jumped over the fence. The guard found no signs of infiltration and decided that it was a false alarm. The same thing happened at midnight, when the terrorists left. Army troops who were stationed on the next hill just a half-mile away were not summoned until Rabbi Cohen raised the alarm a half hour later.
According to a man who used to work as a security guard in Itamar, hundreds of false alarms are set off by the fence each month, especially during the winter. They are triggered by the wind, rain, tree branches or animals. “You can’t treat them all seriously and call in the army every time,” he said. Standard procedure called for a local army company commander and a tracker to be called in to determine if a terrorist infiltration has taken place.
A NARROW ESCAPE FOR TWO OTHER COUPLES
Army trackers later discovered that the Fogel house was not the original target of the terrorists. After penetrating the security fence, they first entered the home of the Chai family, who were away in Yerushalayim. Two other couples had planned to stay in the Chai home over Shabbos to join in the birthday celebration of a neighbor. However, both couples cancelled at the last minute, one because the husband, who was serving in the army, could not get a pass to leave his base, and the other because the wife, who was in the seventh month of pregnancy, had taken ill, and was hospitalized as a medical precaution. As a result of that Yad Hashem, that house was empty when the terrorists broke in, and both couples escaped the tragic fate of the Fogels.
The husband of the woman who spent Shabbos in the hospital, attended the levaya for the Fogels Sunday, and said that he was going to bench gomel Monday, “because we were only a few hours away from crossing between life and death.” [This is not a halachic ruling.]
Even paramedic veterans of the intifada were shocked by the brutality of the attack on the Fogel family. The army said that it was so outraged by the viciousness of the attack that they would not ask the Palestinian Authority for assistance in tracking down the terrorists responsible. In the past, when PA forces apprehended wanted terrorists, they held them only briefly in jail, and then quietly let them go. The army does not want those responsible for this heinous act to ever be let go.
INSINCERE CONDEMNATIONS
The Palestinian Authority leadership, including PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad issued unconvincing condemnations of the attack, based upon their disapproval of all violence that targets civilians, “regardless of who was behind it or the reason for it.” But that was not nearly good enough to satisfy outraged Israelis.
Prime Minister Netanyahu angrily rejected the “weak and mumbled” statements of regret issued by PA leaders immediately after receiving word of the Fogel murder as totally insufficient. “This is not the way to condemn or fight terrorism,” Netanyahu said. He condemned those nations that always rush to the UN Security Council to condemn Israel whenever “it planned a house or laid a tile somewhere,” but are silent when the time comes to issue a “strong condemnation of the murder of Jewish babies. I expect them to issue this condemnation immediately, without balance, without understanding, without justification, because there is no justification, no excuse and no forgiveness for the murder of babies,” he said.
OUTRAGEOUS MEDIA COVERAGE
Of course, Netanyahu wasn’t really expecting the nations of the world to react appropriately to the horrific murder of an innocent Jewish family, and anybody who did was, once again, sorely disappointed. Most of the international news media virtually ignored the attack. The Associated Press used its coverage to suggest that the Fogel family along with the other residents of Itamar are some of Israel’s “most radical settlers,” implying approval of their killing. The AP story also was careful to describe the incident as “killings” rather than the cold blooded murder of parent and children in their beds. The BBC coverage also misleadingly suggested that the terrorists deliberately “spared” the two Fogel children in the house who survived, rather than simply having overlooked them.
NETANYAHU REJECTS ABBAS’ CONDOLENCE CALL
The Israeli prime minister later received a condolence call from Abbas, the first direct conversation between the two men in months. But Netanyahu was still furious with the Palestinian leader. He told Abbas that it was insufficient to condemn such attacks only because they “are against Palestinian interests” – as the Palestinians have done many times before. Netanyahu angrily insisted that Abbas must clearly condemn such attacks simply because “the murder of children in their sleep” is morally unacceptable.
The prime minister noted that while Abbas and Fayyad make moderate sounding statements intended for international consumption, they continue to permit and even encourage anti-Jewish incitement in Palestinian society and the PA-controlled media. “A society that allows wild incitement like this, leads to the murder of children,” Netanyahu said.
NETANYAHU’S OUTRAGE
In a stern and somber broadcast speech to the nation on Motzoei Shabbos, Netanyahu voiced his “deep outrage” over the slaughter of the Fogel family “I demand that the PA stop the incitement taking place daily in its schools, mosques, and in the media it controls. The time has come to stop this double talk.”
The military arm of Abbas’ own Fatah faction, known as the Al Aqsa Brigades, later issued a statement claiming responsibility for the brutal slaughter of the Fogel family. It called the attack a “heroic operation” and justified it as a “natural response” to “Israeli crimes of occupation in the West Bank and Gaza.” It inaccurately said that the “combatant” who “killed all five Zionists who were in the house . . . “returned home safely after conducting his mission successfully.”
In the streets of the southern Gaza city of Rafiach, under the control of Hamas, there was, at least, no attempt to hide the feelings of the people. They celebrated the news of the murder of the Fogel family with joyous street demonstrations and the distribution of candy and sweets.
Army Chief of Staff, General Benny Gantz, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, as well as the director of the Shin Bet, Yuval Diskin, promised to do everything possible to catch the terrorists responsible for the attack. General Gantz said, “We will not rest until the murderers are in our hands. This is a bestial act perpetrated by barbarians. It is impossible to grasp the horrendous scene before us. We are working non-stop on the intelligence and operational fronts.”
CONSOLING THE FAMILY
Netanyahu offered the country’s condolences, “supporting and embracing” the survivors, relatives and friends of the Fogel family, and “our brothers, the residents of West Bank. He urged them to “not let their spirits falter,” and promised that “first and foremost security and Israel, not terrorism, will determine the final settlement map.” He also called for “restraint and responsibly” by those who mourned the murder of the Fogels, and warned them not to try to take the law into their own hands.
Netanyahu also spoke after Shabbos with Udi’s father, Chaim Fogel, one of the founders of the West Bank settlement of Neve Tzuf, who will be raising his son’s surviving children. The prime minister promised to do everything possible to help the family, and to follow their progress personally. The prime minister was also menachem avel, personally visiting the father of Rut Fogel, Rabbi Yehuda Ben-Yishai, who was formerly a rebbi at Machon Meir in Yerushalayim.
The mourning father and grandfather of the victims said that the prime minister told him that “he felt great sorrow and that the entire people of Israel are part of that sorrow.” Then the two men hugged each other.
President Shimon Peres characterized the killings as “one of the most ugliest and most despicable events I have ever seen.” He added that, “the murder of parents and their very young children in their beds on Shabbos, indicates a loss of humanity. There is no religion in the world or any faith that allows for such atrocious acts. There are no words of consolation in the face of this devastation. Our hearts are with the orphans and with the community of Itamar during this extremely difficult time.”
A NATION MOURNS
The levaya for the victims Sunday afternoon in Yerushalayaim was attended by tens of thousands of people. The crowds of people coming to attend from around the country forced police to block the main entrance to the city
Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger told the mourners that “the murderers did succeed, but only in uniting us. No one can remain apathetic” after this outrage, he said.
He said that the most appropriate response to the attack was to continue building Jewish homes in Yerushalayim and the West Bank.
Former Chief Rabbi of Israel Yisrael Meir Lau said, “There are times when there are no words and when one feels helpless with pain and anger. . . What can you say when you see a three-month-old baby stabbed to death? We read the start of Sefer Vayikra this past Shabbos that begins with sacrifices, but who thought of sacrifices such as these?”
Rabbi Lau then turned to the surviving Fogel children and said, “Your mother and father need you. You are the ones who will say the Kaddish for them.”
Hillel Ben Yishai, the brother of Rut Fogel, sobbed that the victims were “holy and pure and the Jewish people will come to know who they were – holy and pure. No one was sweet as Hadas,” the baby daughter of the Fogels who was among those murdered. “The people of Israel are strong, like Rut, an iron lady,” he added.
Vice Premier Moshe “Bogie” Ya’alon read from a paper, condemning the Palestinian Authority and its “education of violence,” teaching their children that “from the Jordan [River] to the sea, Jews have no rights,” was the root cause of the attack in Itamar. He also predicted that the PA will show its true colors by treating the murderers of the Fogel family as heroes, naming city squares after them, and that this makes any peace agreement signed with these Palestinian leaders worthless.
Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin said that as revenge for the murder of the Fogels, “we will live, we will continue to build and to plant, we will continue to hold onto Israel: in Itamar, in Beit Chagai, in Chevron and Yerushalayim, everywhere and at any time.”
THE COURAGE TO PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH
Surprisingly, Rabbi Ben Yishai agreed to a radio interview the morning after the levaya. When he was asked why, he responded, “I have worked in education many years, and as an educator, I try to strengthen and teach people faith. I understand that I cannot be satisfied with words and that I also must implement the same principles on which I have educated others. This is a test of my faith, and therefore I agreed to be interviewed.”
He added that his family and the parents of Udi Fogel “will take upon ourselves the difficult task and pave a path for their grandchildren so that their lives will be victorious. Their mother and father will pray for them from Heaven, their grandfathers and grandmothers will give them a lot of love, and the people of Israel will hug them and encourage them to grow and continue in the path of their parents.”
Rabbi Ben Yishai also said that he was grateful that he and his wife were away when police came to their home to inform them of the killings, so that the terrible news was not able to shter their Shabbos.
As Udi Fogel’s parents sat shiva in their home in Neve Tsuf, his father, Chaim recalled the terrible night when authorities came to his home to tell him the news, and then brought him to his son’s house so he could bring home his surviving grandchildren. Chaim’s mother recalled the last time she saw her son and his family, when they got together to celebrate Rosh Chodesh Adar II. “At least they had a taste of Purim,” she said.
Also, the eldest surviving daughter of the family, 12-year-old Tamar, promised her relatives, “I will be strong and succeed in overcoming this. I understand the task that stands before me, and I will be a mother to my siblings.”
WHITE HOUSE STATEMENT
The day after the assault, the White House issued a statement saying, “we call on the Palestinian Authority to unequivocally condemn this terrorist attack and for the perpetrators of this heinous crime to be held accountable.
“We condemn in the strongest possible terms the murder of five Israelis in a terrorist attack in the northern West Bank, and we offer our condolences to their loved ones and to the Israeli people. There is no possible justification for the killing of parents and children in their home.”
UN Secretary-General Ban Kimoon issued a statement condemning the attack.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the “friends and relatives of the family killed in Itamar have my deepest sympathies,” and that “this was an act of incomprehensible cruelty and brutality which I utterly condemn.”
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle condemned the “cruel and heinous” slayings, saying “nothing can justify such attacks.”
France’s foreign minister, Alain Juppe, said France “condemns all acts of violence in the occupied territories and calls for maximum restraint in order to prevent deterioration in the situation.”
Quartet special envoy Tony Blair, the former prime minister of Great Britain, said “this brutal and appalling murder is shocking and deplorable,” and sent his “deepest condolences and sympathy to those remaining members of the family and to the community.”
BUILDING IN THEIR MEMORY
On Motzoei Shabbos, Netanyahu and Barak convened a special ministerial committee to decide on an appropriately symbolic action in response to the attack on Itamar. The ministers agreed to approve the construction of 500 new Jewish homes in the major West Bank settlement blocks. The Israeli government then informed the White House of the decision, as a fait accompli, over the inevitable objections of Palestinian Authority officials.
In Washington, a State Department spokesman said that the US government was “deeply concerned” over the announcement that more Jewish housing in the West Bank had been approved. The spokesman reiterated the position that Israeli settlements are “illegitimate” and “run counter to efforts to resume direct negotiations” between Israelis and Palestinians. However, Netanyahu’s spokesman said that since the new construction was to take place in areas of the West Bank which Israel is expected to keep, it posed “no contradiction” to peace efforts which have been stalled since September by the Palestinian refusal to participate in direct negotiations.
During the ministerial meeting, Defense Minister Barak argued against several alternatives, such as starting a new settlement, or expanding Itamar, which is not within the major settlement blocs that are expected to remain in Israel’s permanent control.
The newly approved housing projects are to be built in Ma’aleh Adumim, Ariel, the communities in Gush Etzion, and Kiryat Sefer. New construction of Jewish housing has resumed in the West Bank at a brisk pace since the expiration of the voluntary construction freeze in September, but those were all for the thousands of building projects which had already received final government approval. The action of the ministerial committee was the first time since the freeze expired that the government has approved new building plans in the West Bank.
POLITICAL REACTIONS
Reaction to the attack from other Israeli political leaders fell along predictable ideological lines. Right wing figures, such as National Infrastructures Minister Uzi Landau and Diaspora Affairs Minister Yuli Edelstein placed the responsibility upon Abbas and the PA educational system that teaches “hatred of Jews and presents child killers as role models,” discrediting the PA as a legitimate partner for peace.
Likud MK Danny Danon blamed the attack on Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s “lax security policies in the West Bank,” and his “irresponsible removal of checkpoints and the abdication of our security needs to the Palestinian Authority. . . Barak should be concentrating on protecting the citizens of Israel and not pressuring Prime Minister Netanyahu into ill-advised ‘peace’ plans,” Danon said.
Ariel Mayor Ron Nachman put some of the blame for the attack on left wing Israeli newspapers for “separating settlers from Israelis living on the other side of the Green Line.”
On the left end of the Israeli political spectrum, Labor MK Isaac Herzog argued that the attack in Itamar should not be allowed to achieve its goal of “preventing diplomatic progress” or used as an “excuse by the prime minister for not presenting a diplomatic plan.”
Meretz’s Nitzan Horowitz said that the attack “undermines the deep interest of both peoples in peace and security, and the need to do everything to renew the diplomatic process.”
Tzipi Livni, the head of the opposition Kadima party, had the good sense to avoid trying to take partisan advantage of the attack. She called for the nation’s sympathy for the Fogel family and supporting army actions against terrorism.
CARRYING ON FOR THE FOGELS IN ITAMAR
Leah Goldsmith, one of the leaders of Itamar, said that she and her husband, Rabbi Moshe Goldsmith, remain optimistic about the community’s future, despite the killing of the Fogels, and other casualties it has suffered due to terrorist attacks over the years. The Goldsmiths are Americans who first came to Itamar 15 years ago. He is the mayor of the town, and one of the founders of Yeshivat Chitzim.
She recalled that, in 2002, when three boys from her husband’s yeshiva were killed by a terrorist, “we thought that was the end of the school. What parent would want to send their children to study here? But soon after, the school quadrupled its student body.”
She says that Itamar is full of idealistic people like the Fogels. Yitzchak Shadmi, a longtime friend of the Fogel family, described Udi Fogel as a brilliant student who “could have been a scientist, but chose to be a Torah educator instead.”
Mrs. Goldsmith is particularly annoyed by the tendency of the Israeli media to describe Itamar as a “peripheral” community. “We are exactly one hour away from Yerushalayim and the large metropolitan area around Tel Aviv on the coastal plain. On the map we are at the geographical center point of Israel. That is anything but peripheral.”
Itamar 1985- 23/1/2005 Almost 20 years ago, Itamar, then Tel Chaim, consisted of 2 tiny blocks of pre-fab concrete matchbox houses, like parallel rows of white dots on a black domino. 
White, in its stark symbol of new civilization, upon the black uninhabited earth, scattered with gnarled thorn bushes and many ancient rocks of different sizes. This double row of dwellings sits perched snugly on a low hump of hill in the mountainous region of the central Shomron. The glorious hills surrounding the settlement seemed to hug and mystify the newcomers. The houses themselves were simple. One could walk around, seeing potential for the little front gardens. In the shadow of the big rocks grew a variety of sage, thyme, zatar and many other wild herbs and flowers. In spring, the earth became mossy, a ready-made green carpet. 
The backyards faced the North Country and the new and rising Elon Moreh in the distance. Between the rows of houses ran a concrete lane. Toddlers played there in the bright light, the sky a burning blue. Below this lane stood the public meeting houses, which served many purposes such as for praying, and planning a new decade of settlement and land reclamation. As the twilight sank, couples would stroll down to the new playground. There were hardly any trees at this point and sometimes the world felt a dreary place without them. Later, a huge expanse of fresh grass was put down there, rich and refreshing- it was like going to a country club. The homes had no phones. This meant waiting on line, usually at night, for the one local phone. There, under the lone light bulb, the dim, yellow glow would give a cozy mood to those hooking up with the outside world. Then, the days were days and the nights were nights. Time had a definition. At this time a generator supplied the electricity, it’s motor droning away almost always. When it shut down, the silence could be heard to the end of the world. It, like the people, needed an occasional rest too. On the long winter nights the rain would rattle on the windows, sometimes shaking the frames of the little houses in a thunderous waft of freezing air. Was that someone banging on the thin wooden door? Babies were often held inside thick blankets. Walking down “Main Street”(our famous lane), one could see through the lace curtains, a candle glimmering and providing a warm and cheerful light. There were days that it felt too cold to go out. Better lay in bed, listening to the steady freezing rain. When it was time to go, it meant trudging through the cold mud. The thought of family was warming to the heart. Then, walking indifferent in the rain, under the umbrella, pleasure was taken secretly thinking of the bountiful things of Eretz Goshen. The women loved marketing. Tuesday was fruit and vegetable day. Children would wheedle their way between the crates and crates of melons, bananas and oranges. It was a luxurious day, but everyone counted his or her pennies. A big truck would arrive every Wednesday with frozen and dry goods. The women would kind of squeeze together in a heckling dance of reaching and grasping for this and that, beautiful in their bright and simple scarves. Soon it became harvest time in the new fields. There was the hope of accepting something straight from nature. 
The people were slowly acclimating themselves with this land, learning its ways, praying for it to bless them. It was not easy. With the arrival of spring, the children explored the warming hillsides, collecting pansies and anemones, slipping down the sloping hills covered in a purple thistle. They would bring a bright decoration for their shining Shabbat tables. Money was always short, but walking across the new fields gave a rich sense of ownership and pride. The hills were calling, “come and claim me, come and take me”. We couldn’t get enough of them. It was a kind of matrimony with the Land. The visitors became enthralled with the place. They went out looking for mushrooms, hunting through the wet grass. There was the joy of finding something; an ancient olive tree bigger than a house, a wild vine, good for new starters. Climbing the steep path to the top of the mountain, all things shone in the sun. The atmosphere, a soft gray, the gentleness of being so near the so ancient, the so ours, provided an intimacy that could not remain abstract. The prophet’s dreams were coming true. At that time, the hum of noise coming from the valley, where the “locals” lived was only a minor detail for us. We felt them, but not intensely. We were so locked into our existence, it was easy to forget the larger picture, feeling only the very being of this place at this time- then, now and forever. The men transformed quickly from clean-shaven boys to bearded strong men. Some wore flannel or dark blue work shirts and pants with high black rubber boots. Some would be a little more “dressed up” standing in the early morning at the roadside wearing white shirts and large cranberry colored holy books under their arms. There were those that worked the Land, and those that dedicated their lives to learn the details of halacha concerning the Land. Later, there were also many that gave their lives for the Land… When the tiny buds appeared on the rosebushes in the planters outside our front door, people would be seen emptying their worldly possessions into the backyards. There would be a ceremony of scrubbing down every surface of the little houses. It was Pesach-time. The grey and wet winter was replaced by this ritual, with the arrival of spring. People began to smile, speak and connect to those around them. And when we recited the prayer of Thanksgiving, making Pesach in the Land of Ephraim, it felt all the more special. “ Blesssed are you, Lord our G-d, King of the Universe, who has granted us life, sustained us and enabled us to reach this occasion!” end Leah Goldsmith
Kislev 5765 Benny Katzover’s story:
Chapter 1 The return to Chevron This Shabbat we had the privilege of hosting Benny Katzover at the Itamar Yeshivat Chitzim. Benny was one of the major forces behind the return of Am Yisrael to the hills of Yehuda Shomron. He told us how, as a young student, after the Six-Day War, he joined a group of like-minded people who felt a strong connection to Chevron.
(Just two months after the war, families who owned property in the ancient city demanded that the government return it to them.) Unfortunately the government refused. Nevertheless, Elyakim Haetzni and Aaron Amir, who immediately after the Six-Day War set up an organization whose goal was to hold on to the freshly redeemed territory, began to push for a return to Chevron. Harav Levinger was asked to join forces with them and become involved in “The Movement for Eretz Yisrael Hashileyma.” (It was quite an interesting movement in that its members were from a broad range of the political spectrum.) “Eretz Yisrael Hashilayma” had everything except soldiers on the ground who could make the dream a reality. Thus, Harav Levinger turned to the religious sector of Israel for help. He invited Harav Waldmen and Harav Drukman to join him. Together they turned to families to try to convince them to join the Chevron “Garin.” Slowly but surely, they formed a nucleus that was willing to return to Chevron.
“Garin” Chevron began pressing for government permission to return to the “City of the Patriarchs” in the same way that the children of Kfar Etzion had been allowed to go home. Interestingly, not a small part of their success was due to the political rivalry between Moshe Dayan, the Minister of Defense, and Yigal Alon, the Minister of Labor. Yigal Alon had never forgiven Moshe Dayan for snatching the position of defense minister during the Six-Day War and reaping the glory of victory. Although Yigal Alon had a modest position as Minister of Labor, he was considered to be the senior party member and was Levi Eshkol’s vice Prime Minister.
Yigal Alon put together the “Alon Plan” which stressed the importance of settling the Jordan Valley, Gush- Etzion, Jerusalem, and the Aza region. On the other hand, he called for handing over the populated mountainous areas to the Arabs. Moshe Dayan had a different idea: He called for the establishment of five Jewish enclaves on the mountain ranges of Yehuda Shomron. The Labor Party was quick to adopt the Alon Plan. Thus, it was Yigal Alon that supported a return to Chevron, while Moshe Dayan opposed it.
When Harav Levinger and his friends turned to the Israeli government for permission to spend the Seder Night of Pesach 1968 in Chevron, Yigal Alon was their major supporter. Benny Katzover, who was a member of the group that moved into the Park Hotel, shared with us some of his personal experiences of that time:
The Arab owner was more than glad to rent out his hotel after having no customers for a very long time. The idea was that the group would rent the hotel for the Passover holiday and they would try to prolong their stay as long as possible. The owner, Faiz Kwasama, was more than glad to extend their visit. He even mentioned that he would be willing to let them stay as long as they wanted. The group had the foresight to ask for Kwasama’s promises in writing. Thus the dream finally became reality: ten families and several single men and women checked into the Park Hotel on the 14 of Nissan of the year 5728 / April 11th, 1968. These pioneers consisted of rabbis, yeshiva students, teachers, and craftsmen. The leader of the group was Rav Levinger. Other rabbis included Harav Drukmen, Harav Waldmen, and Harav Aviner, who at the time, was a new immigrant from France.
Benny and his friends decided that it was important to explore their rediscovered frontier. They bought a book written by Matan Vilnai’s father about Yidiat Haaretz. They wanted to know about other places in Chevron besides the Tomb of the Patriarchs. After reading about the gravesite of Yishai, Benny decided to check out the place. He followed the map and arrived at the site. Through the gate he saw an Arab hammering away at a rock. Benny waved hello as he entered the area and made his way to the gravesite. After finishing his prayer, when he was leaving, he was stopped by the Arab. The Arab told him that he was a sculptor and showed him the work he was doing. He even treated him to a cup of coffee.
After about an hour Benny finally left the site and returned to the hotel. He was so excited about his discovery that he shared the experience with his friends. He told them that they too must see it. He explained to them how to get there, and they set out on the mission. About an hour later they returned looking pretty upset. Benny asked them what had happened and they told him that an Arab threw them out. Benny couldn’t believe it. He decided to personally escort them to the site.
When they arrived, Benny walked in the very same way he had when he first came. He waved hello to the Arab sculptor and led his friends to the gravesite. When they finished, The Arab sculptor, now a great friend of Benny, greeted Benny with a hug. He invited Benny and his group to sit down to a cup of coffee. After they finally finished the meeting and walked out, they were totally blown away. They asked Benny, “How is it that this Arab treated you with so much respect? He’s the one that threw us out.” Benny asked them how they had entered the site. They said that when they arrived at the gate they were hesitant to enter. The Arab sculptor was looking at them and they asked permission to go inside. He refused, and threw them out. Benny explained that he, on the other hand, had acted as though he was boss and left his fears outside the gate. He had learned a great lesson about how to deal with his new neighbors.
Benny recalled his meeting with the mayor of Chevron, Muhammad Ali Jevri, known as the “sly fox.” Jevri was a renowned anti-Semite and was involved in the terrible massacre of the Jews in Chevron in the riots of 1929. He was also involved in the attack led by the Jordan Legion and the Arab villagers against the Jewish community in Kfar Etzion during the War of Independence. The Arab mayor, putting on a friendly disguise, greeted the group warmly. He told them how he always knew that the Jews would eventually return to the city of Chevron.
The next day there was an article in the paper which mentioned how the Israeli government was attempting to resettle the Jews in Chevron. The mayor demanded that the government evacuate the Jews from the hotel. He claimed that their stay in Chevron would lead to Arab rioting. Yigal Alon was in favor of settling the city of Haavot. He was behind the Labor government’s decision to move the group out of the hotel into the civil administration building, which was occupied by the Israeli army. Fearful of world opinion, the government was afraid to allow the formation of a settlement in Chevron. However, they agreed to the installment of a yeshiva in the civil administration building.
When the group arrived at their new home, the army was very careful to write down the names of the yeshiva students. No new additions were allowed. Nor were women allowed. In order to include the female members of the families who had been transferred from the hotel, as well as those who were not your typical lamdanim, the leaders incorporated them as yeshiva personnel. They needed a secretary, a cook, a cleaning woman, repairmen, and so on. They were soon considered the yeshiva with the largest staff! Thank G-d it worked out and their new life in the civil administration building got underway.
On Yom Haatzmaut, they decided to make a very big event and invite Am Yisrael to celebrate with them at Maarat Hamachpayla. Since they needed funding as well, they decided to sell drinks to the visitors, and they set up a stand right outside the machpeyla. The yeshiva boys took turns selling the drinks until the governor of Chevron (who was an army representative) confronted them. He was red in the face and asked them who had given them permission to set up a store in Chevron. A few hours later he issued the drink sellers an expulsion order to leave the city.
The group was beside themselves and turned to their friend Yigal Alon for help. He told them that they must help find a building that is owned by the government. Sure enough, next to the very same place that they sold the drinks was a small building with a plaque on it stating that it was a present from America to Hussein, the king of Jordan. The group had found the building they were looking for. When Israel captured Chevron This building became the property of the State of Israel. Now they had an opportunity to set up a small store. Benny recalled how his best friend, Harav Menachem Felix, was an excellent salesperson. This is the famous Gootnick building today in Chevron.
Another big problem the group faced was setting up a shul in Maarat Hamachpeyla. The government would not even allow them to bring in chairs to sit on. Every time they went to pray they had to fight with the Arabs to use their mats.
After continuing conflict over the issue of setting up a shul, Benny, Harav Levinger, and some of the other group leaders were invited to meet with Moshe Dayan, who was Prime Minister Levi Eshkol’s Minister of Security at the time. Harav Levinger instructed Benny to prepare for the meeting by learning the history of Chevron. Benny recalled how Moshe Dayan greeted them warmly as he invited them to enter his home. He even showed them his rare collection of antiquities.
After the pleasant reception, they were taken aback with Moshe Dayan’s question, “Since when is it a Jewish custom to pray in a graveyard?” Harav Levinger told Benny to answer the question. Benny, stuttering, answered that throughout history the Jews were prevented from praying at Marat Hamachpeyla only by foreign rule, although there were many rulers that actually allowed them to pray there. It’s a historical fact that as long as the Jews were able to pray at Maarat Hamachpeyla, they did so. Benny even went through a historical discourse, relating which periods the Jews were given permission to pray at the Maara and which periods they weren’t. Moshe Dayan was extremely impressed with the answer he received and told them that they had convinced him. From then on they were allowed to start fixing up the Maara and bring in furniture.
There were still many problems to be overcome. Chevron did not have permanent housing for Jews yet, and there were no jobs allowed besides learning Torah. Once in a while a few new group members were smuggled in. One day an American wearing a cowboy hat, accompanied by sheep and dogs, asked to join the group. He showed up at the Yeshiva and met Harav Levinger. Harav Levinger told him that he’s welcome to join, but he should know that there are no job opportunities available except for learning. He wasn’t your typical yeshiva student. The man said no problem, he can take care of himself.
After a week or so, Benny and his buddies took a walk with this new member, Dov Drevin. They were shocked to see that wherever they went, the Arab populace was extremely nice to Drevin, bowing down in respect. The yeshiva boys couldn’t figure out why. They claimed that it must be the big dogs that were constantly at his side. Then Drevin took them to the entrance of the kasba of Chevron and showed them his new carpentry shop, which employed both Arab and Jewish workers. When the governor found out about this shop he went ballistic. How could anyone dare set up a Jewish business in such a volatile place? When they explained that they hadn’t been given a chance to set up a business anywhere else in Chevron, the governor was willing to allow them to move the shop to the civil administration building–just to get them out of the kasba!
Benny at this point decided to give up his academic career. He realized that he had more important things to do for Am Yisrael. He was officially elected to the Chevron council. Rav Levinger asked Benny to make a list of all the supporters of Chevron including their phone numbers and addresses. After a few days Benny came up with a list of 110 supporters, and handed it over to Harav Levinger. The Rav was so pleased that he had it published in the Israeli Newspapers, claiming that 110 families want to settle in Chevron, and demanding government permission to do so. Benny told the Rav that in reality most are just donors or people who identify with the cause, but very few are actually willing to settle in Chevron. Harav Levinger told Benny not to worry about it. That very same day people called in complaining about being put on the list. Nevertheless, as a result of the announcement, more supporters began calling in, and others expressed a desire to move to Chevron. After a few weeks, the Rav requested a new list. This time Benny came up with two hundred and fifty names, which was again posted by the Rav in the papers. This time the government reacted favorably and agreed to start a building project of 250 housing units outside of Chevron. This turned out to be the beginning of Kiryat Arba, today a city of [number] Jewish residents.
Chapter 2: The Return to Shomron
Benny and his chavruta, HaRav Felix, for the longest time yearned for the return of Am Yisrael to the Shomron. How could it be that the first place Abraham Avinu saw when he came to the Land of Israel was not yet settled? Yosef, who lies in the portion of the field which his father Yaakov purchased, is awaiting the return of his brothers.
Levi Eshkol had given permission to the children of Kfar Etzion to return home. The return to Eretz Yehuda had begun. Chevron and Kiryat Arba were progressing nicely. The Gaza Strip was being settled with Nachal outposts, and the Jordan valley was filling up slowly but surely with moshavim and kibbutzim. Benyamin and the Shomron, however, remained empty of Jewish inhabitants.
Benny and HaRav Felix were in touch with the Zionist leaders of the time, but none were willing to take up the new challenge. About a year before the Yom Kippur War, the two men saw no alternative: they closed their Gemarot in Yeshivat Chevron and set to work. They began by organizing a “garin” (nucleus), which would be willing to grab a hilltop in the Shomron at the first notice.
In a few months they managed to form a garin of about fifteen families and an additional group of fifteen singles. Garin Elon Moreh (another biblical name for the city of Shechem), as they called themselves, decided to explore the frontier of the Shomron surrounding the holy city of Shechem to find a suitable location for their new yishuv. When they passed the springs of Ein Bedan (Nachal Tirtza) they fell in love with the place. Interestingly, they also checked out the possibility of settling Har Kabir, which is located not far from the center of Yishuv Elon Moreh today.
They had heard that there was a very right-wing general in charge of the central command. When they told him what they were looking for, he pulled out a plan he had drawn up which outlined a future Jewish city outside Shechem on the hills that make up Itamar today. He ended the conversation with a declaration that any move without government permission he would personally crush with his own two feet. (Gandhi was talking from past experience. In 1969 a Betar group had tried to settle on Mt. Grizim and later next to the city of today’s Ariel. Gandhi brutally threw them out of the Shomron.)
Benny and Rav Felix formed a committee to attain the proper permits from the government for a settlement. Letters were sent to government members and ministers, including Prime Minister Golda Meir. They didn’t ask for financial support. All they requested was a piece of land for a yishuv. The dream of the garin was to copy the example of Kiryat Arba by forming Kiryat Shechem. They thought this would pave the way for the future settling of all of the Shomron and Binyamin.
The government was opposed to the idea. Yigal Alon, who was a great supporter of settling Yehuda, was against the settling of the Shomron because the Arab population of the Shomron was much greater than that of Yehuda. On the Eve of the Yom Kippur war, Benny and HaRav Felix met with Arik Sharon who had just ended his career in the army. They asked him his opinion about setting up a yishuv without government approval. He answered that it was a “heavy question,” and the three decided to meet again after the Yom Kippur fast–a meeting which never took place because the war broke out and they were all called up to duty.
The Yom Kippur War, however, served as a catalyst for the establishment of Garin Elon Moreh. After the shock of the war the Israeli public was ready for a Zionist “statement.” The men behind the garin were still in the army, so the women that had to carry the flag. A letter entitled “Wives of the Recruits” was sent to Golda Meir. In it the women asked to meet with her and discuss an idea which they felt could uplift the spirit of the country. Golda Meir met with the women but was shocked to hear that they wanted to settle the land of Shechem. It was a cordial meeting but Golda Meir vetoed their idea.
On Tu Bishvat 5734 Gush Emunim was established. Its members were part of the Mafdal party and its aim was to get the Mafdal involved in other ideological areas besides education, including the establishment of settlements. According to Benny, Gush Emunim was made up of two groups. The first was Garin Elon Moreh which had nothing to do with the Yom Kippur War. The second, comprised of HaRav Levinger, Chanan Porat, HaRav Druckman, Zevulun Hammer, and Yehuda Ben Meir, formally set up Gush Emunim as a response to the war. Both groups shared the belief that the Shomron must be settled.
The movement for Eretz Yisrael Hashlaima got involved as well by striking in front of Golda Meir’s house and office. Gush Emunim, which set up vigils, joined them. Post-war negotiations about partition with Egypt and Syria, which began after Pesach of 1974, helped speed the way for Garin Elon Moreh. The nationalist groups realized that they had to create facts on the ground before it was too late. They sent letters to Yitzchak Rabin, future Prime Minister, and Simon Peres, Security Minister to be, after the fall of Golda’s government, demanding permission to establish a settlement in the Shomron. Rabin refused.
Gush Emunim heads Rav Levinger and Chanan Porat were afraid to make a move without government permission as they feared a confrontation between the settlers and the army. They turned to leaders like HaRav Goren, and Menachem Begin for support. All felt that without government permission it would be a mistake to make the move. Yet, it was decided in a group meeting with Garin Elon Moreh that a move would be made with or without government support.
As a religious garin, however, they turned first, for his blessings, to their Rabbi, HaRav Tzvi Yehuda Kook. He said he wanted to ask the advice of Menachem Begin, at that time the leader of the Liked party. Although they knew that Begin was against the idea of unauthorized settlements, they brought him to the house of Rav Tzvi Yehuda Kook. As expected, Begin told the Rav that he was against the idea because he feared a confrontation between the settlers and the army. HaRav Tzvi Yehuda said, “You hear Menachem Begin’s opinion!” — which meant that it just wasn’t the time to go through with this.
But the garin refused to give up so easily. They went back to the Rav and he told them to bring HaRav Goren for consultation. This was another blow for the garin because they knew that HaRav Goren was against the aliya. As expected, HaRav Goren, like Begin, felt that this wasn’t the time for setting up a yishuv in the Shomron.
The garin decided to approach HaRav Tzvi Yehuda Kook yet again, but this time they were going to tell him that they had decided to make the move and they wanted his blessing. When the representatives of the garin, Benny, Menachem Felix, and Yossi Arziel, got to the Rav’s house, the Rav did not let them speak. He was smiling and talking to them about this and that. The trio was elbowing one another to see who would get up the nerve to tell the Rav about their decision. Finally, Menachem Felix found the courage to tell the Rav that they had decided to make the move.
The Rav’s response was, “What do you want from me?” They answered that they wanted the Rav’s blessing. He smiled, and with a warm handshake, blessed them that G-d willing they will be successful. They went home in high spirits, unaware that this wouldn’t be last word from HaRav Zvi Yehuda.
The garin congregated in Mechola, the first Jewish settlement in the Jordan Valley, which was chosen for their set our point. Suddenly they got a message from Chanan Porat stating that HaRav Tzvi had requested that they shouldn’t make the move yet. Later it became clear what had happened. Chanan Porat had told the Rav that going ahead without government approval would lead to clashes between the IDF and the settlers. Chanan Porat demanded that the Rav get involved. Porat insisted that they must first exhaust all possible legal channels before attempting the aliya.
Rav Zvi asked Porat to arrange a meeting for him with Shimon Peres. Porat was able to convince Peres that the situation was so volatile that this meeting was crucial. Peres at the time was a supporter of the garin, unlike Yigal Alon who believed, as previously mentioned, that it was more important to settle the Jordan valley. Peres was in favor of the settling of the mountains of the Shomron as well. Benny recalls Peres saying, “Do the mountains of the Shomron fall short of the mountains of the Golan”? Peres, who was at the time Minister of Transportation promised that he would pressure Moshe Dayan who was Minister of Security. He also promised a bus line to the new Yishuv.
Peres wasn’t able to make the meeting with the Rav because on the scheduled day, June 3rd,1974, he was sworn in under the Rabin government as Minister of Security. He postponed the meeting for the following day. HaRav Tzvi requested that the garin wait the 24 hours. Despite their impatience the Garin waited the 24 hours. At the meeting, however, Peres said that he didn’t have the authority to permit the aliya without the agreement of the government. HaRav Zvi told him, “If you don’t allow it, I will join the garin myself!”
On June 5th, 1974 the members of the garin, after a roundabout trip northeast of Shechem, through Mt. Aval and the city of Shechem, arrived at Bad Shalosh, Machane Choron, a kilometer southwest of Yishuv Itamar today. This first aliya was called Chawara.
The families divided themselves into tents, and a kindergarten and school were set up. About120 people participated in the mission, which was joined by HaRav Tzvi Yehuda Kook, and Knesset members Ariel Sharon and Giula Cohen from the Likud, and Zevulun Hammer and Yehuda ben Meir from the Mafdal. The new settlement stood for two days, during which heated negotiations took place between the government and the settlers. In the end it looked as though a compromise was about to be reached. The settlers were told that they could spend the night at Machane Yosef located in the valley of Tirza between Shechem and the Jordan valley. In the end, however, the compromise failed and the army got orders to forcibly evacuate the settlers.
The painful evacuation took place at night. HaRav Tzvi and his students took hold of the fence. Chanan Porat was pulled by force from the fence. Ariel Sharon pushed the soldiers back and said, “How dare you touch someone who was injured in the Yom Kippur war?”
Rav Tzvi, who wasn’t in the best of health, stood on his feet the entire day. He was told to evacuate. Instead of doing so he yelled back, “Is this Eretz Yisrael or isn’t it? If not, bring your machine guns and shoot me!” In the end, everyone was evacuated except the Rav, who eventually left on his own.
This first attempt proved to be very useful because those who were afraid of clashes between settlers and soldiers saw that no civil war had broken out. The garin had behaved responsibly and this resulted in the recruitment of many new supporters.
Shortly after this failed attempt Benny and Menachem met with Prime Minister Rabin, who said that he was not willing to be manipulated by a small group of people. Menachem’s answer was that next time they would be coming with thousands!
After this meeting the garin went into full swing. They lobbied Knesset members, held parlor meetings, raised money and did everything in their power to promote their aliya plan. Tens of new supporters joined the garin, including Menachem Begin.
The Second Aliya: SebastiaOn the sixth of Av, the Jewish year of 5734 July 25th,1974, thirty families with their fifty children arrived at the old Turkish Railroad station at Sebastia. They weren’t alone: thousands of people, including spiritual leaders, professors, authors, knesset members and members of youth movements had joined them. For four days the masses continued to stream to the site, using four different routes which had been prepared in advance. Even on Tisha B’av people continued to come, despite the hot summer day. HaRav Dov Begun pleaded with the crowd to drink.
Rabin was quoted as saying that it was a shame it wasn’t winter so they could be washed away. Peres, on the other hand, was friendlier and wanted to bring up the garin’s request for government approval. The Ramatkal (chief of the army) Motta Gur argued with Rabin as to whose job it was to evacuate the settlers. Gur claimed that it was the job of the police. Rabin ended the argument by saying that it was the army that would do it.
Motta Gur arrived at Sebastia at the end of Tisha b’Av and met with the board of the garin. He asked them to leave the site voluntarily and promised that he would do his best to offer an alternate location. His proposal was turned down. The garin agreed on a passive resistance maneuver known as the”potato sack”.
The attempted evacuation began after Tisha B’av. It lasted for five days and resulted in the strengthening of the Gush Emunim movement. All over Israel branches were set up. Interestingly, it was the Shomron attempt, more than previous attempts like Chevron and Gush Etzion, which brought the government and the public to realize that the road to an effective struggle is through a popular, non-partisan movement. The tremendous success of the movement was seen in the formation of additional garinim..
When the decision was made for the third aliya there were an additional four garinim: Garin Shilo, Jericho, Western Shomron (which later became the settlement of Elkana) and Garin Maale Adumim. The Maale Adumim garin consisted of three groups, one from the Labor party, one from Gush Emunim, and one from the Likud. The groups consisted of both religious and non-religious members. Later Maale Adumim and Yishuv Kfar Adumim stemmed from these groups.
Third Aliya: The Hakafot MissionRabin and the Israeli government still refused to allow the settling of the Shechem region. Garin Elon Moreh and Gush Emunim, which still weren’t working together as one unit, decided that this time they would plan not only one aliya, but simultaneous ones in different parts of the Shomrom and Benjamin. Since the garinim already existed, all they had to do was to divide themselves up into different areas of settlement. Garin Elon Moreh took upon itself Neve Zalach, today known as the settlement of Neve Zuf; Garin Shilo, and Jericho were to find a place next to the biblical sites.
Expert tour guides joined the groups to help find the proper areas. After the Simchat Torah holiday on the 22nd of Tishrei 5735, October 1974, thousands of people decided to skip the second hakafot in order to hit the hills of Shomron and Benjamin. They set out for the three different sites. Jericho wasn’t chosen randomly, but because it had been the site of secret negotiations between Israel and Jordan. The Israeli government was considering an intermediate plan to forfeit a strip of land from Jericho to Ramallah.
As a result of the criticism that was leveled against Peres for failing to be more aggressive in stopping the previous settlement attempts, there were now army roadblocks on all the major access roads. In response, the original group of three divided themselves into sixteen smaller groups. The next day’s front-page headlines reported that Rabbi Yochanan Freed, then the speaker of Gush Emunim, had established sixteen settlements in the Shomron and Benjamin. Since thousands of people were scattered all over the place it was extremely difficult to remove them. The evacuations were very aggressive and this time took a full week. Gush Emunim was now definitely on the map!
The last mission was followed by a break of several months. The time was spent in organizing Gush Emunim and new garinim. The question was, “What’s
Dear Jonah, Thank you for your continued concern. Itamar, as I’m sure you are aware, has been going through a very difficult time. A little less than two weeks ago, we lost another special member of our settlement. He was shot right outside our settlement on the way home from work. I can’t express in words the difficulties the settlement is going through. People that work outside the settlement have extreme difficulty in getting to work. We mustn’t let the terrorists succeed in keeping us off the roads and interrupting our daily lives. Let me relate to you a small incident, which occurred this morning that may help you understand a little more about our situation. This morning I went to the porch to get my reserve jug of gasoline. It just disappeared. I discussed the problem with my wife. I told her I have no choice but to drive out to Ariel and fill up the gas tank. She stared into my eyes and said “Dear husband you are not going anywhere”. I guess I have no choice but to start digging in my back yard, maybe I’ll discover an oil field. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think this is a joking matter. But, if you don’t keep your spirit up with a little sense of humor you can go mad. Your idea of purchasing a bulletproof van is wonderful. Even simple errands become major tasks if you can’t get to town to take care of them. A bulletproof van would solve many of these problems. One possibility would be to arrange a shuttle system where a few times a day the van would make trips to Ariel. [Ariel is the closest city to Itamar it is about a 25 minute drive west of us].I have no doubt that in years to come the future generations of Israel will look back at this historical period and will honor the memory of the settlers and their supporters that saved our Promised Land. Thank you for being there for us. Have a happy and healthy New Year! May G-d merit us in witnessing the elimination of all evil forces and the building of our third Temple. Sincerely yours, Moshe from Itamar
Yishuv Itamar is located in the Gav Hahar region, or literally, “the Hump of the Mountain”. It is hill country, tremendously big, picturesque and mysterious, varied with long and wide valleys who resemble a mosaic coat of many colors ranging from pea to deep jade greens and chestnut browns in the winter and spring months. In the summertime the colors are dry, like the colors of Rebbeca’s jug, in which she served Eliezer and the camels in Babylon. There are springs and wells in the hills. The bounty stemming from the blessing given to Joesph….”The blessings of the father are potent above the blessings of my progenitors to the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills”(Vayechi 49). The tribunal portions of Ephraim and Menashe, the sons of Joseph run across these highlands. In every direction that one looks, the views are emanated with authentic biblical greatness and Jewish nobility. This is the chief feature of the landscape, of your life in it, and you are struck by the feeling of having lived here in the past. When we made aliyah to Itamar 15 years ago by Divine Providence, a strong vibe pervaded the air- here I am, where I ought to be. Gav Hahar is crowned by two noble peaks that rise 3,000 feet above the surrounding country, the mountains of the Blessing and the Curse- Har Gerizzim and Har Eval. They sometimes resemble twin Mount Sinais simmering in a purple Holy haze of splendor, the gray, jagged rocks breaking through on the Eval side, and majestic forests waving on the Gerizzim. You cannot imagine why G-d created these mountains for any reason in the world than just to be the gate, the very shoulders of the Land of Israel, with Shechem (literally-shoulder) resting in the valley. In the winter, the winds blow incessantly here. They strike the sides of the mountains and hills and blow against the windowpanes of our homes. Sometimes the houses shudder from it. The clouds, which travel with the wind, release the blessings of the dew and the bounty, the blessings of Joseph. Huge droplets of rain pour down the little streets of the yishuv and form little temporary streams and pools. The sky can become very gray and dark with a range of gray clouds and you remember Noach sheltering his family in the ark. In fact, the most rain falls in these parts. That is the way it usually is, when the blessings are given. When Joseph was thrown again into the pit, the skies suddenly cleared and the grounds await It is a drought year. But, even so, the fields are full of scarlet poppies and blue pansies. The deer run free in these parts and skip from hill to dale. Interestingly enough, not many Jews have come to resettle this Land. It is still a hidden place to most. In all Gav Hahar there are no more than 500 families. They are spread upon these ancient mountains, Harey Kedem, sparsely. There are 4 yishuvim, Itamar, Bracha – situated on the mountain of the Blessing, Yitzhar, and Elon Moreh. Each yishuv has a panorama unique to its position on the “hump of the Mountain”. Elon Moreh sloping off to the north and the famous portion of the daughters of Zlofchad, Yitzhar, to the west and a breathtaking view of the Great Sea, Bracha- upon the whole of Gav Hahar, and Itamar to the east, to the Jordan. Before the recent intifada AlAksa, some curious Tel-Avivers would drive out in their 4×4’s to catch the breath of this land that reaches beyond time and space. That has stopped now. We, the local settlers, are inquisitive about any vehicle that is not a bulletproof bus on these roads. At times, life on the yishuv seems like that of a hermit, with the stillness of the night sometimes so out of the ordinary. But, all of the time you can feel the overshadowed existence of the local natives, much like the Canaani, the Perizzi and the Chitti, running parallel with your own but on a completely different plane. You can’t help but wonder, when will this end? The echoes of our ancestors, the echoes of the screams of Joseph call out from the nearby pit, and you can hear “Ode Yoseph Chay”. History and the future whisper in the spring wind. They console. They inspire. It is only a matter of time that Joseph returns. “And you shall dwell in the Land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your G-d”.