Settlers remember Peres' support for their cause

Record ID: 85177

  • Title: Settlers remember Peres' support for their cause
  • Date: 28th September 2016
  • Summary: OFRA, WEST BANK (SEPTEMBER 28, 2016) (REUTERS) OFRA SETTLEMENT ROAD SIGN READING IN HEBREW, ARABIC AND ENGLISH 'OFRA' AARON LIPKIN, SPOKESPERSON OF OFRA, WALKING ISRAELI FLAG (SOUNDBITE) (English) AARON LIPKIN, SPOKESPERSON OF OFRA, SAYING: "In 1967 we had a great achievement. Israel was suddenly able to return back to the biblical heartland of Israel. And the first person who allowed the Jews to come back and re-settle Samaria (biblical term to the West Bank) is Shimon Peres. As minister of defence, he gave permission for the first Jewish village between Jerusalem in the south and Afula in the north to be established right here in Ofra, in 1975. And it's kind of funny to think about it that Shimon Peres out of people, the person who advocated a two-state solution, is actually the person who established the first Jewish village, so called settlement, in Samaria." AVRAHAM GISSER, RABBI OF OFRA SETTLEMENT, POINTING AT TREE PLANTED IN 1976 BY THEN ISRAELI DEFENCE MINISTER SHIMON PERES SIGN NEAR TREE READING IN HEBREW 'PRIME MINISTER'S TREE, PLANTED BY DEFENCE MINISTER SHIMON PERES IN 1976' (SOUNDBITE) (English) AVRAHAM GISSER, RABBI OF OFRA SETTLEMENT, SAYING: "I think that he (Peres) began to support a Palestinian state, but he didn't support, never supported to take us, to take Jews from here. And he didn't support to destroy settlements. He supported living peacefully, and this is our vision also, never mind if there will be here an Israeli state or a Palestinian state, we are stable here." MORE OF TREE (SOUNDBITE) (English) AVRAHAM GISSER, RABBI OF OFRA SETTLEMENT, SAYING: "After the Oslo agreement, that I believe and I think most of the people in Israel believe that it was a big mistake, after that his memory became very problematic. But not in the real attitude for his personality and his vision. In his vision, we are friends." KINDERGARTEN RESIDENTS IN STREET
  • Embargoed: 13th October 2016 13:47
  • Keywords: Israel Shimon Peres West Bank Settlements
  • Location: OFRA, WEST BANK
  • City: OFRA, WEST BANK
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Topics: Society/Social Issues
  • Reuters ID: LVA00151HCHFR
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Jewish settlers in the West Bank voiced mixed views of former Israeli president Shimon Peres, a joint winner of the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize, who died in hospital on Wednesday (September 28) aged 93.
    Peres, an influential figure in Israeli politics for 70 years and a convinced campaigner for Middle East peace who remained energetic until his final days, was mourned by world leaders and praised for his tireless engagement.
    In the West Bank settlement of Ofra, residents remembered Peres' support for their cause when their community was established in 1975, while he was Israel's defence minister.
    "In 1967, we had a great achievement. Israel was suddenly able to return back to the biblical heartland of Israel. And the first person who allowed the Jews to come back and re-settle Samaria (biblical term to the West Bank) is Shimon Peres. As minister of defence, he gave permission for the first Jewish village between Jerusalem in the south and Afula in the north to be established right here in Ofra, in 1975. And it's kind of funny to think about it that Shimon Peres out of people, the person who advocated a two-state solution, is actually the person who established the first Jewish village, so called settlement, in Samaria," said Aaron Lipkin, the spokesperson of the settlement.
    Peres even planted a tree on behalf of the government inside the settlement.
    The Rabbi of Ofra explained that while supporting a two-state solution in his later years, Peres didn't advocate evicting Jewish settlers.
    "I think that he (Peres) began to support a Palestinian state, but he didn't support, never supported to take us, to take Jews from here. And he didn't support to destroy settlements. He supported living peacefully, and this is our vision also, never mind if there will be here an Israeli state or a Palestinian state, we are stable here," said Rabbi Avraham Gisser.
    He added that settlers shared Peres' vision of peace.
    Peres shared the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize with the late former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for reaching an interim peace deal in 1993, the Oslo Accords, which never turned into a lasting treaty.
    "After the Oslo agreement, that I believe and I think most of the people in Israel believe that it was a big mistake, after that his memory became very problematic. But not in the real attitude for his personality and his vision. In his vision, we are friends," he said.
    Peres was seen to have done little to rein in the expansion of Israeli settlements on land captured during the 1967 Middle East war, even if he was not an active proponent of a policy that U.S. President Barack Obama has described as an obstacle to peace.
    Obama, Britain's Prince Charles and former U.S. president Bill Clinton are among those expected to attend Peres' funeral on Friday (September 30), Israeli radio reported, although Israel's Foreign Ministry could not immediately confirm the attendance list.
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