Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Goren attended ceremonies last night at the new Gush Emunim settlement of Pe’erim on the western slopes of the Samarian highlands on the West Bank. The occasion was the delivery of a Torah scroll to the settlement’s synagogue. Pe’erim was established with government approval.
Goren noted that it was the first permanent settlement east of the “green line,” the demarcation line between Israel proper and the West Bank and expressed hope that settlement in the region will continue. Hanan Porat, leader of the Gush Emunim, said there were enough people to populate 20 new settlements over the next six months.
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