israelnationalnews.com & COLlive.com
Chanina Sperlin, Executive Vice President for Governmental Affairs of the Crown Heights Jewish Community Council, joined a high profile tour of Israel that supported its safety and security.
Heading the delegation were Mike Huckabee, a prominent Republican and close confidant to the Trump White House, and Dr. Joe Frager, First Vice President of the National Council of Young Israel.
The group visited a building site in the Tamar neighborhood of the Judea town of Efrat, offering support for continued growth of communities across Judea and Samaria.
Speaking beneath a large banner reading “Build Israel Great Again”, Huckabee said that he knows the US President is similarly supportive of construction. “President Trump is naturally a builder and he would be proud to see what is going on here in Efrat,” he said.
Huckabee is known to be a staunchly supportive figure of Israel’s right to self-determination and the Jewish State’s legal presence in Judea and Samaria. He pointed to the construction workers around him as evidence that these communities promote rather than impede peace.
“The greatest path to peace is by empowering people via economic growth and that is exactly what we are seeing here. Every single day some 1,300 Palestinian workers come into this area to build homes and are given the means to provide for their families as a result,” he said
The group was welcomed to Efrat by Mayor Oded Revivi, who also serves as Chief Foreign Envoy for the YESHA Council. Revivi thanked Huckabee for his many years of support and said that his support allows many others to realize the realities on the ground in Judea and Samaria.
“The truth of these communities is that they are safe, thriving places to build homes and raise children and while we would never excuse or minimize the evil of terrorists and extremists, they are the tiny minority of a population that is committed to living in harmony and co-existence,” Revivi said.
YESHA Council Hananel Dorani asked Huckabee to relay a very specific message back to the White House, saying that while they are deeply appreciative of the right to build new homes, he would implore the US Government to permit even further construction across Judea and Samaria.
“While we have the chance to build now under the Trump administration in ways unlike Obama, it’s still not enough, and we need to be able to develop thousands of new homes and buildings in order to best serve the needs of our growing population who want to live in this area and benefit from all that it has to offer.”
The tour will include stops across Israel with visits to the Golan Heights as well as the Southern border areas, to enable the group to better understand the myriad of security and practical challenges faced on all fronts.
Speaking at an event, Sperlin recited the verse in Torah which the Rebbe often quoted that the eyes of Hashem are always on the Holy Land. He shared this message with residents and encouraged them to stay strong in the defense of their brethren.
Assisting construction crews to build a supporting wall around a new home in the community, Huckabee said with a smile, “This area is so great – perhaps now’s the time to purchase a vacation home.”
VIDEO:
Efrat is not yet classified as a “city”, but is still a “yishuv”. You are correct that we are over 10,000 wonderful “yidden of all stripes….”. We are fortunate to have two dedicated Shluchim families – one targeting the Anglo community and the other, the Hebrew speaking. Tamar and Dagan are two new neighborhoods within Efrat (Shluchim Shloime and Kiki Newman live in the Dagan). Come join us!! You will enjoy: Fabulous community, shuls of all types and size, great parks/playgrounds, top-rated schools ( + Chabad in Beitar is only a 10 minute drive), fantastic services and support for Olim… Read more »
Keep up the good work you’re doing. Thank you
BS”D Chanina, the next American Ambassador to Eretz HaKodesh
Its Great to see that even the non Jews are saying what the Rebbe said!!!
Is a very intelligent and articulate man, a true American patriot and an emesdik friend to Israel !!!
Wonderful speech, however Efrat is not a neighborhood but a city of thousands of yidden of all stripes within the orthodox community
Build an even greater Israel