At the Gilad farm, a stranger celebrates the centennial plan with me and denies the possibility of a Palestinian state • And Benaria already calculates the yields from the real estate increase • Round at Binyamin headquarters

• "It's good that an American president talks to us like that." A stranger with me at Gilead Farm

  Photo:

  Miriam Tzahi

"It's the Economy, Stupid" was Bill Clinton's slogan for the 1992 campaign, and this is also, surprisingly, the first sentence we receive when we enter the gate of Neria. The huge sign promises an apartment on the spot for a million shekels, and the goods, we are assured, are hijacked as fresh rolls.

The community settlement, which spans the mountains, and belongs to the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council, was established in 1991 and now, despite the buildup of construction and dust mountains, transmits warmth at the first moment. Four neighborhoods in the locality, six years ago, started calling the streets here by name and two years ago even numbered the houses - and these were perhaps the best signs of growing up, not to say screwing, of a settlement.
The rocky landscape is breathtaking. Today, 400 families live in Neria, and with the help of President Trump and the approximate annexation of the dream of more than twice as many, with an average of six people per family, is quite feasible.

The construction is hard to miss. Who remembers that in the 1990s there was no paved road to the settlement and Neria was even called the temporary "Talmon B" - a testament to its proximity to the oldest and oldest settlement. After a few years and a significant increase in population, it was decided to change the name, and, like many religious Zionist institutions, to commemorate the name of Rabbi Moshe Zvi Neria, as many of the residents of the Yishuv were among his students.

"Women in Neria will have the same rights as women in Tel Aviv." Avinoam Guelman in Neria // Photo: Gideon Markowitz

The silence of the boulders, and the silence of the fog hovering above, violate the noise of the bulldozers. More and more houses are growing fast for them. Palestinian workers, Jewish buyers, and that's how it was before the centennial plan and so it will remain. "Do not believe what is written in the sign," clarifies and laughs Avinoam Guelman, a well-known lawyer outside of Areas A, B and C, and puts me wrong: "In a million shekels you will not receive more than a small apartment here. Assuming that after the century agreement, the land will become expensive for us to move from military to civilian. " When Guelman bought an area in Neria before 14, he paid around NIS 800,000. Now, he says, because of the vibrant, quiet quality of life and impending annexation, he expects a dramatic price increase.

"We are back with answers"

But not for real estate prices everyone went to Washington. The annexation is supposed to permeate the "lives themselves" of residents, Jews and Palestinians working in localities. "I'll give you an example. When my wife was pregnant, she could be fired, "Guelman says." Women working in Neria do not have the rights a woman in Tel Aviv has because they do not currently live under the same rule. Employment equality sounds trivial to you in Israel in 2020, but it's not. These little facts even the most cynical people cannot take away from the Centennial Plan; It should have an immediate impact on our lives. "

And what about the Palestinian workers, and the neighbors from the surrounding villages? "The decision will dramatically change our reality, but for the workers and their relationship with them - nothing will change," Guelman explains. "We live alongside them, work with them. They are human beings and will not go anywhere, and no one has any interest in it being different." The money speaks, it turns out. The fathers of the workers at the site in Neria earned about NIS 120 an hour in 2006, and came from families with five children, on average. Now, they are earning NIS 300 an hour, and they already have families of their own, two children, three maximum, says Abdullah, who comes to Neria from the distant Sira house.

Abdullah is not familiar with the Centennial Plan, nor too interested, but from the crumbs he has heard he hopes he can get out of work in Tel Aviv more easily. He doesn't care what certificate he has in his pocket. Border Crossing? He just laughs at the idea.

"The change for the better will be immediate." Michael Osnis guard at Kedumim entrance // Photo: Gideon Markowitz

"The demographic threat has long been removed," says Guelman. "Once upon a time, the Left would rightly say to us, 'You just say what you don't want, maybe once you say what you want and not just.' Make us think, and come back with answers about what we want. Now, with the Centennial Plan, the Palestinians are exactly the same Situation. They just keep saying what they don't want. I think this deal requires them to say what they want. Just like the left owes us. "

Waiting for the speed cameras

The brief turn at Benjamin's headquarters, with its clear status-line, which seems unlikely to change unless reality forces it to not appear in agreements signed at round tables across the Atlantic, causes the illusion that there is nothing. But residents are still excited, in conversations at the post offices in the local secretariat, analyzing the bureaucratic changes that future annexation should bring.

Radio, on the way to Kedumim, reports that Yesha Council officials reject the century deal, in view of its intention to include the establishment of a Palestinian state. Yesha Council Chairman David Bakhneh Al-Zahini attended Washington this week, along with the other Judea and Samaria leaders. "We are very disturbed. We cannot agree to a plan that would include the establishment of a Palestinian state that would pose a threat to the State of Israel and a great danger to the future." Al-Zahini is ready to relinquish the long-awaited sovereignty of a Palestinian state on the table. The talk that such a country is just at the end of the process, after four years who knows who is going to be, does not comfort him.

As we cross Benjamin's headquarters east, toward the depths of the YS area, the beautiful road is laden with cars with Palestinian license plates. A white line is only a recommendation, 130 mph is the reasonable speed, and you are missing out if you get stuck in a gas truck that slowly maneuvers in the rounds.

Construction in Neria // Photo: Gideon Markowitz

Soon, at least on paper, Israeli police speed cameras will mow these roads, possibly sparing unnecessary blood spilling in the crooked ways. Reports of a day of rage in the West are facing the dangers lurking on these unsafe roads.
The move from Switzerland's headquarters to the Yesha Council Carpathians is evident in the increased movement of IDF forces, who are ready to shower despite the moderate assessments. We drive north on Route 55, passing through the street vendors offering orange oranges and huge cauliflower through the Isuzu trunk breaking apart. Issam's concern sitting on the baggage is not the century's agreement but the desire to finish the goods by the end of the day.

Through the fog, Nablus suddenly becomes clear, over which there is a rainbow of colors, the sign shows that in ten miles we will reach it but we stop in the early ones. This is the banner of Gush Emunim; It was established in December 1975 and became the first Jewish settlement in Samaria after the Six Day War. In 1992, he expanded significantly with the waves of Russian immigration and became a local council. And yet the quality of life here is almost collective, despite the bustling industrial area.

Kedumim is supposed to be one of the great beneficiaries of close annexation, at least on paper. Neighbors from Nablus, if they only agree to the plan, will be based in a developing economy with the help of American money, and Jewish residents will be able to lower the level of fear in the movement. "Economic development and work always calm the area," someone tells us at the consumer entrance.

The indifference of the Palestinian side, for now, is a mirror image of the enthusiasm of ancient residents. Michael Osnis, the guard at the entrance to the settlement, does not hide a wide smile even when there is no one in front of him.

"After listening to the words of Donald Trump and Bibi Netanyahu, I realized that we are part of the history of the Jewish people," Osnis explains. He believes that "people who say there will be no change - don't understand anything. I'm sure there will be a change for the better immediately."

"It depends only on us"

The cold in the ancients penetrates the bones even when the sun is undisturbed in the sky. Jobseekers from Nablus and the surrounding villages are coming in waves to develop the industrial area, in search of work. When a new factory opened at Bar-On Park, it was a celebration for the workers. Michael the guard knows everyone already, but is still primed with the weapons. He is concrete: "They do not want relations with us and they do not want peace with us. It is clear to all parties, but now they have at least set facts on the ground. They have no choice. If they do not agree to align with what is stipulated in the agreement, they will have business not with us but with the Americans. ".

He immigrated to Israel 30 years ago, settled in Kfar Saba, and after a vision he discovered in the dream, he says he found himself in Kedumim. The weather reminded him of the Crimea. Which is good, if you don't understand.

"I was not religious at all, a complete atheist, but here I realized, through my heart, that I am first and foremost a Jew," he begins by confessing. The network interrupts and examines vigilance and everyone in positions. Wednesday was supposed to bring with him a day of rage but for some time And nothing happens. Michael puts the weapon on the table. "I know you look at me and say he's just a guard. But I don't keep a factory, I keep our country. Do you know that on a clear day you see Tel Aviv? Sometimes you even see the sea. Do you understand what would happen if the Palestinians decided to throw Katyushas away? It's right on the Dan block. That's why I keep it here. "Even before the Katyushas, ​​in the nearby village of Einbaus, a classroom was set fire to the local school this week. On another structure, the walls were rattled in Hebrew:" Demolish houses? Only for enemies!

The century agreement skipped the settlers from the settlements and the policing forces on the spot, which was less relevant in Washington at the moment "When you live here you shouldn't be afraid," Michael tells me. Is the tense feeling, on the roads, near the fences and around the Palestinian villages, the same understandable vigilance that accompanies hundreds of thousands of Israelis who pass and live in Judea - will it come to an end after the annexation? Doubt. But Michael is always optimistic. Will they want war? you are welcome. We will set the goals and we will decide where it will stop. It will only depend on us. "

You said that the centennial plan is excellent and hence only good things can happen. So what is war now?
"Yes legally the Century Plan is the right thing, but in terms of reality on the ground unfortunately someday there will be war. I learned the Arab mentality, I don't call them Palestinians. Their leaders take them to the streets and they will demand more territories and other things. That's their character."

"Let's just take the good"

The road from Kedumim to Gilad Farm takes only ten minutes. On the way, they pass at the Jit junction, near the monument marking the murder site of Gilad Zer, a resident of Itamar and the security officer of the Samaria Regional Council. It happened on May 29, 2001, at the height of the explosive bombings and buses.

Gilead Farm was established by Itai Zarad, Gilad's brother, in 2002, and has housed several dozen families since. After Rabbi Raziel Shabach, a resident of the place, was murdered in January 2018 at the entrance to the ranch, the government decided to regulate the settlement. Constant water and electricity have become a reality at hand. But in the meantime, bureaucratic barriers still prevent regulation.

With me a stranger, seven fights and learning disappointments, knows how to maintain optimism, which this week also became a real joy. He has experienced policy plans where he has always been a candidate for eviction, arguing that this time is different. "There is nothing to compare. The leadership of the right, Naftali Bennett, Ayelet Shaked and Smutrich, as well as the Yesha leadership itself and Councilor Yossi Dagan, are no longer doing what they are told. They will no longer hand over land ropes, ”he says.

"It is true that I am a naturally optimistic person compared to others who are pessimistic, but this week I spoke to enough people who understand more than me - from this show we will only take the good, there will be no minus for us."

Will sovereignty be around you a Palestinian state?
"A Palestinian state will not arise, it will not happen. There is nothing to relate to it. Why should we treat it? That an American president speaks to the Jewish people like that. It is always good and heartfelt. We all learned the lessons of the past, "You've probably thought of hearing other things from me, but ultimately the Centennial Plan is another important step on our long journey, and it promotes our control of the place."