Gush Etzion Regional Council holds conference regarding 'Arab' land theft

The conference is part of the transformation that the Gush Etzion Council has been pushing forwards to over the past year and a half - focusing mainly on protecting state land.

By ZACHARY KEYSER
A grove of trees in Gush Etzion in the West Bank. (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
A grove of trees in Gush Etzion in the West Bank.
(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
The Gush Etzion Regional Council organized a conference focusing on agricultural terror as well as tools that can be used in preventing land theft within the area Monday evening.
The conference opened with an overview delivered by Shlomo Ne'eman, head of the regional council, who briefly described the situation in the council as "the most important issue today in Judea and Samaria."
"Land that will be taken over [by Palestinians] will not only be lost for 7-10 years, but will be lost for many more years ahead," he said.
One of the main speakers at the conference - Coordinator of the Regavim, Yishai Hamo, presented troubling data regarding land and agricultural theft that has been obtained by the council over the last decade.
As well, representatives from the KKL-JNF board spoke about the projects they are currently funding in the regional council area.
Another speaker at the conference, Deputy Director of the New Guard Uri Sapir talked about placing security volunteers in open spaces to guard the discussed thefts and Yehuda Shkolnik, the district archaeologist, explained to the audience about the theft of antiquities being carried within the area.
The conference is part of the transformation that the Gush Etzion Council has been pushing forwards to over the past year and a half - focusing mainly on protecting "state land."
Initiatives and cooperation have been established with the residents of the area, which are an integral part in increasing enforcement and arrests of "the illegal Arab takeover taking place daily in the Gush Etzion area," according to the press release.
Settlers in the area have complained of numerous cases of Palestinians causing damage to their properties and fields.
In June, Israelis living in Kfar Etzion, in the Gush Etzion region, said that Palestinians burnt down a cherry orchard by throwing a Molotov cocktail and in February blamed them for snipping their grape vines in the same settlement.


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