Jerusalem – Three settler leaders are packing their bags for Washington so they can attend the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump on Friday.
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The trio — Oded Revivi, Benny Kashriel and Yossi Dagan — said they received invitations through congressional contacts.
They see their trip to the US capital as a sign that the Trump administration will not follow in the anti-settlement footsteps of US President Barack Obama.
“I think it is an indication that we are an important partner in any dialogue that is taking place or is going to take place about this region,” said Revivi, who is the Efrat Council head and the international liaison for the Council of Jewish Communities of Judea and Samaria.
“We’re opening a new page with the Americans,” said an excited Kashriel. He is the mayor of Ma’aleh Adumim, the third largest Jewish city in the West Bank.
Both Kashriel and Revivi represent regions of the West Bank that are settlement blocs and are part of an annexation campaign by right-wing parliamentarians.
During the election campaign, Kashriel issued aninvitation to Trump to visit Ma’aleh Adumim, which is located just outside of Jerusalem.
Kashriel said it was very emotional to think of being in Washington for such a historic moment. He added, “I hope it leads to the recognition of Ma’aleh Adumim as part of [sovereign] Israel.”
Out of the three leaders, Dagan was the only one to openly campaign for Trump during the election and he was the only one of the three to receive an individual invitation.
While in Washington he will meet with Republicans, including those close to Trump.
In a letter to Dagan in November after the election, the co-chair of Republicans Overseas Israel, Marc Zell, wrote, “Your great skill and connections … made a huge contribution to the success of the party’s campaign in Israel.”
Dagan said that for years his council’s international outreach program has conducted tours for Americans, including politicians, to show them that Samaria is Israel’s Biblical heartland.
As a result, he met quite a number of people who were part of Trump’s circle and saw first-hand how much they “loved Judea and Samaria.”
Just last month, he said, his council hosted Trump advisor Becky Norton Dunlop.
“We hope the election heralds a new era of friendship between Israel and the US, one that is not based on Israeli concessions with regard to its vital interests,” Dagan said.
Israeli Settler Leaders are putting Jewish lives in danger each and every minute. It is the biggest sin to support these people.
There is no Mitzvah to live in dangerous settlements.And even it would of been a Mitzvah nothing comes before Pikuach Nefesh. These leaders care nothing about Jewish lives being murdered.All they care is their twisted nationalistic Zionist ideology.
So Obamas the soina yisroel cuz he has an “issue” with little girls stabbed to death and a mim slaughtered in front of her kids. What dont these low IQ settlers grasp? You wanna appease the brash blunt Trump?? Wait till he does the right thing. Go love ur own Bibi that puts u in harmsway and endangers ur lives like the cats roaming the streets