Bennett: The answer to the EU is building in Judea and Samaria
“We were here before Paris and we will be here after Paris.”
By TOVAH LAZAROFFNaftali Bennett Keda outpost 370(photo credit: TOVAH LAZAROFF)
A fledgling Jewish community in Judea and Samaria is the answer to the European Union’s new guidelines against West Bank settlements, Economy and Trade Minister Naftali Bennett said on Wednesday night as he stood outside in the Keda outpost.“If this is not our home, then I am homeless,” he said.He spoke under a half-moon on a small makeshift stage on a dusty lot by the outpost’s day care center.Wearing red T-shirts, the 50 outpost families had gathered there to celebrate their 10-year anniversary. They set up plastic tables with watermelon and pastries, as well as metal urns with coffee and tea.Located on the outskirts of the Shilo settlement, Keda is seeking government approval to become an authorized community, either as a neighborhood of Shiloh or as a new settlement.As the Bayit Yehudi head looked out at the Keda residents sitting on plastic chairs, he told them, “The real response to the EU’s latest action is coming here to another beautiful community in Judea and Samaria.”He noted that in the past few weeks there had been a number of births in Keda.“More kids, more trees, more vineyards, more homes – that is the real answer to the EU,” he said.Jews, he said, were in Judea and Samaria thousands of years ago and would continue to live there thousands of years into the future.“We were here before Paris and we will be here after Paris,” Bennett said.
He told reporters who crowded around him after the event that Israel still had a few days to try and prevent the EU’s publication of new guidelines that clarify the EU’s long-standing policy not to recognize territory over the pre-1967 lines as part of Israel.For Keda resident Matanya Chaya, who immigrated to Israel from the Czech Republic, the celebration of Keda’s 10th anniversary took on a special meaning in light of the EU’s strong anti-settlement stance.“After we heard what the EU is saying about us and thinking about us, it is important to say we are here and we are staying here for a long time,” Chaya said.
