Settler leader to US envoy: Visit West Bank before deciding its fate
“Come see Samaria with your own eyes and meet its people, so you can better understand its reality in depth,” Dagan wrote in a letter he sent to Berkowitz.
By TOVAH LAZAROFFSettlement of Elon Moreh, near Nablus, West Bank, June 11, 2020(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan invited visiting US special envoy Avi Berkowitz to travel to his region of the West Bank before sealing its fate by signing off on details of US President Donald Trump’s peace plan.“Come see Samaria with your own eyes and meet its people, so you can better understand its reality in depth,” Dagan wrote in a letter he sent to Berkowitz.Dagan offered to show him the Har Bracha and Elon Moreh settlements as well as Joseph’s Tomb, Mount Gerizim, Joshua’s altar on Mount Ebal and the view from the Yitzhar settlement where one can see the Hermon mountains that border Syria.He recalled for Berkowitz how in the Bible, God came down to view the Tower of Babel before determining its fate, suggesting that the US envoy do likewise."Israel has the right to determine its own sovereign borders, but at the same time, it is important to underscore the significance of the US role in the process," Dagan wrote.“We respect US President Donald Trump, who has been the best president for Israel and who, as you know, greatly loves Israel," he wrote.As a representative of Israel’s great friend and ally, which is now in the process of determining its position on the matter of sovereignty, it is important that “you come and see the region,” Dagan told Berkowitz in his letter.Dagan is among those who support the application of sovereignty onto all the settlements, but wants changes made to Trump’s map to ensure that settlements are not placed in isolated enclaves. Dagan is also opposed to any plan that would lead to the creation of a Palestinian state.Berkowitz is in Israel to hold meetings in advance of a US decision with regard to its support of an Israeli application of sovereignty. According to the Trump plan, Israel can apply sovereignty to 30% of the West Bank as early as Tuesday, July 1.
