United Torah Judaism chairman and Minister of Construction and Housing Yitzhak Goldknopf on Thursday visited the community of Evyatar in Samaria and sought to encourage the residents, who had arrived at the community in response to the shooting attack near Eli.
The Minister visited the Beit Midrash (Torah study hall) named after Yehuda Guetta, who was murdered in a shooting attack at the Tapuah junction two years ago, spoke to the yeshiva students and danced with students and local residents.
“With God’s help there will be a community here,” declared Goldknopf. “I am not your partner but rather one of you. There will be 10,000 residents here and there will not be one child who will not dance and be happy. There will be a community here.”
To the students of the yeshiva, Goldknopf said, “I came here to tell you to continue to ‘cultivate and guard’ the Land of Israel, there will be no force that will drive us away from here. I see your dedication, I see how dedicated you are to the Land of Israel. With God’s help there will be a community here, with God’s help there will be good days for Israel.”
Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council, said at the Beit Midrash named after Yehuda Guetta, “We came here to strengthen you, the yeshiva students, you are our center, you are our future. The eyes of all the people of Israel are on the settlement enterprise – will we be broken because of this terrorism, will people leave God forbid, or vice versa – on is the focus on the fact that on the night of the murder, when the blood of the victims was still on the road, not only were no trucks of fleeing people seen leaving here, but on the contrary, vehicles and trucks arrived here with families, yeshiva students who came here to renew the settlement here.”
“We are calling on the government to approve Evyatar as a permanent community in the State of Israel. The Minister of Housing is ready to bring planning proposals and build thousands of housing units here, with God’s help,” added Dagan.
The chair of the Nachala movement, Daniela Weiss, told Goldknopf, “We ask you to strengthen the Prime Minister in the face of international pressures. The community of Evyatar will grow and prosper.”
Evyatar was built at the site of a former military outpost following the murder of Guetta in 2021. Residents later left willingly to preempt a conflict with the previous government during a planned military eviction, but have since campaigned for the community to be recognized and the occupants allowed to return as they were promised.
