Sharon: Israel’s Priority is to Have U.S. Jews Settle in Occupied Areas

Israel’s Minister of Agriculture Ariel Sharon told leaders of the American Orthodox community that settlement of American Jews in the occupied territories around Jerusalem, In Judaea and Somalia, as well as in the Gaza Strip is Israel’s present priority.

Addressing the more than 1000 lay and rabbinic leaders attending the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America’s national dinner of the New York Hilton Sunday night, Sharon, who is also the head of the Agriculture Ministry’s committee on settlements, called on the assembled leaders to “send groups to Judaea and Samaria, even temporarily, as a symbol.” Analyzing the main problems facing Israel and, by extension, the American Jewish community, Sharon stressed four points:

American mistakes in dealing with Soviet aggression in recent years have made Israel’s position as a sole bastion of Western-style democracy in the area significantly more difficult to maintain; the American tendency to pressure Israel more strongly than the Arab side in Mideast negotiations has mode those negotiations increasingly more difficult, as has the American tendency to minimize the significance of the concessions that Israel has already mode in the interest of peace.

Also, the tendency of U.S. public opinion, as reflected in the media, to minimize the human losses of dead and injured as a result of Arab terrorist attacks, while magnifying out of proportion Israel’s responses to these incidents; and the constant pressure on Israel to give up her claims to Jerusalem.

Sharon called upon American Jews to speak out in response to these challenges and problems and to exert their influence on U.S. policy and leadership to protect Israel and Jewish interests. He emphasized that these are Jewish problems, not just Israeli problems and that it was time for the Orthodox community in the U.S. to play a more active role in Israel.