On Monday afternoon in Samaria, tens of thousands of Israelis demonstrated in support of Jewish rights, with the main march starting near the Tapuach Interchange and concluding at the Evyatar outpost.
At least seven members of the Cabinet, including the ministers of finance and national security, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, were scheduled to attend the rally, along with some 20 other parliamentarians.
About Friday’s horrific terrorist attack in the seaside city, Ben-Gvir declared at the start of the march, “We do not submit to terrorism, not in Evyatar and not in Tel Aviv.
“We are here to say: The people of Israel are influential. We’re here, and we’re staying here, he continued.
Yossi Dagan, the leader of the Samaria Regional Council, urged the government on Sunday to “let the residents of Evyatar return to their homes and to legalize the town, as promised.”
The march was announced almost soon after news broke that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had opted for Israel to delay formally recognizing Evyatar.
The outpost’s fate was discussed at a conference with political and military leaders last month, but according to reports, no decisions were made. Ben-Gvir and Smotrich, a minister in the Defense Ministry and in charge of civilian affairs in Judea and Samaria, requested that the meeting be convened.
Residents of Evyatar and the former government agreed in June 2021 for a yeshiva to be built close to Nablus in exchange for the residents vacating temporarily while it was investigated if the land was privately held.
After 450 Jews visited the outpost the day before in reaction to a terrorist attack that resulted in the deaths of two Israeli brothers in Evyatar, Israeli security forces evacuated the area on February 27.
Evyatar was founded in 2013, not long after a terrorist in the area fatally shot yeshiva student Evyatar Borovsky.
Following numerous evacuations, it was more formally reinstated in May 2021 in response to the murder of Yehuda Guetta, 19, who was shot by a Palestinian terrorist near the community at a bus stop. Guetta was killed there.
A tent encampment that initially existed rapidly gave way to more substantial buildings. Nonetheless, 53 households left Evyatar in July 2021 as part of the agreement with the government, which permitted the town to stay intact and under the permanent control of the Israel Defense Forces.
In exchange, the government promised to survey the property to ascertain its legal status.
The government agreed to initially build a yeshiva in Evyatar and then permit a long-term civilian presence if it was found that the site belonged to the state.
The Evyatar families have charged the government numerous times with holding up the land survey.
The terrorist assaults that have recently occurred in Judea and Samaria, the Jordan Valley, Jerusalem, and Tel Aviv provide another backdrop for Monday’s march.
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