A Heartfelt Call to Preserve a Pioneering Spirit

Erev Shabbat, Parshat Naso, just before the celebration of receiving the Torah.

It's truly remarkable to pass a law that strengthens settlement in the Land of Israel during the days leading up to the holiday of receiving the Torah. This is not only due to the unbreakable bond between all Torah commandments and the land, as emphasized by the Ramban: "For the essence of all the commandments is for those who live in the land of Hashem." The special mitzvah of settling in the land and inheriting it — "and you shall take possession of the land and settle in it" — means, at its core, "that we do not leave it in the hands of any other nation, or let it lie desolate."

The Torah was given to us not as individuals, but as a nation, so that we might establish here a "kingdom of priests and a holy nation"; yet, there are commandments where the national aspect is more pronounced, such as the mitzvah of settling the land. For so many generations we were prevented from fulfilling this commandment as a nation, publicly, while only a few managed it individually. In our generation, we have been fortunate. We've had the opportunity to reclaim lands, establish new settlements, raise the flag of settlement as a leading value, rejuvenate the wilderness, and proudly proclaim the Jewish settlement of the Negev and Galilee without shame. For years, the State of Israel acted in this way until extreme left-wing organizations and the Supreme Court caused it to feel ashamed. They introduced the value of equality as a leading principle, first into the discourse and then into policies and legislation, forcing the Jewish settlement value to yield. Gradually, through a calculated process, the goal of "Judaizing the Galilee and Negev" became something to hide, and later, as hidden values often go, something to relinquish.

This led to a distressing situation in the Galilee, where the Jewish minority is shrinking year by year, and the Jewish community settlements, established to prevent such decline, are withering. More troubling, even when they notice this, they fear speaking openly about it, for fear of being labeled "racists." No resident in these small settlements will admit, behind closed doors, how their community is aging and shrinking, and still hesitates to grow, lest – in the absence of a legal possibility to decide who is accepted into the settlement and who is not – it becomes a "mixed settlement." Whispering it behind closed doors is one thing, crying out loudly is quite another – it's forbidden, it's "racist," it's not politically correct.

This absurd situation needs correction. From the moment I entered the Knesset, I saw this as a goal (in truth, even before, as the director of the Land of Israel Caucus in previous Knessets, I worked for this important change), and I insisted on finding partners even among those silenced and distressed residents of these small settlements. After many quiet conversations with Zionist left-wing Knesset members who are pained by the issue, I brought it to the forefront with a bold call during a Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee debate to proudly raise again the banner of Judaizing the Galilee and Negev, which has always been one of the banners of the Zionist movement and the State of Israel. By the grace of Hashem, after many persuading efforts, some of them quiet and some also overt and vocal, the path was cleared. The Zionist majority in the Knesset rose and made a first act, and hopefully, with effort, it won't be the last.

The law to amend the Cooperative Societies Ordinance, which I was blessed to pass this week in a preliminary reading in the Knesset plenum, together with my colleague and party leader Bezalel Smotrich (who already promoted the law in the 20th Knesset) and my colleague Nir Orbach (who inherited the law from Yomtov Kalfon, with Ayelet Shaked essentially backing them) is essentially a law to renew the momentum of settlement throughout our land, especially in those areas suffering from what is called "the demographic problem." The law will allow community settlements to grow without fear, up to a size of 700 families instead of just 400, without damaging the community life fabric every settlement desires. This is a first step in the right direction, a bold step against the anti-Zionist stream that has, in recent years, covered and consumed every good part of the values and actions necessary to strengthen settlement in our land.

It's important to note how the coalition was divided in this crucial vote: not only did the Arab parties oppose, not only Meretz which consistently declares it's not a Zionist party. Even the Labor Party chose not to participate in the vote. It pains the heart to see a party that was once a leader in Zionism, now descending to a loss of direction. The heart aches, and the mind warns: if we do not know how to raise our flags and values high and without shame – this could be the sad future of Zionism itself.

I thank Hashem for the great privilege of raising once-folded flags again, and for the opportunity to carry them up the hill, alongside partners who were nearly despaired. Raise up Zion a banner and a flag, with Hashem's help we will do and we will succeed.

Shabbat Shalom and Chag Shavuot Sameach