Commenting on the proposed building of a “Jews-only” building in Jaffa, the head of the development company in question was reported as saying: “We will continue to build throughout the Land of Israel. The national mission today is to bring rabbis and educators to every city in Israel, in order to strengthen Jewish identity in Israel.”
The phrase ‘national mission’ felt familiar – here are just a few other examples of this kind of language.
In the Negev
“After the cornerstone laying ceremony, in which Joseph Hess of JNF America participated, Mr. David Raisch, the local CEO, said that he was very excited to see the guests from the USA: “When we were evacuated from Gush Katif, we insisted on staying together as a community. We asked the government for a national mission, we told them we wanted a place no one else wanted to live in, and that’s how we ended up in Shomeria. It’s exciting for me to see you here today, because it makes me realize that building the eastern Negev is not just our personal goal, you are our partners to this task…””
“The significance of the Disengagement Plan is not only the evacuation of the Gaza Strip – it is also an increased effort to develop the Negev, the Galilee and greater Jerusalem. The Government of Israel, which I head, considers developing the Negev, the Galilee and greater Jerusalem a primary national mission – and views settlement as the number-one tool for doing so.” [PM Ariel Sharon]
Jerusalem
Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the Jewish people, one united city that is not to be shared or divided. Israel will do everything in her power to strengthen the character and the Jewish symbols of Jerusalem and will strengthen Jewish settlement in every area of the city. Establishing Jerusalem as our capital is the foremost national mission. [Likud party platform, 2006]
The Galilee
“[Nazeret Illit] was established as part of the national mission to strengthen the Jewish character of the Galil as a whole, and to address the demographic, political and economic challenges emanating specifically from Nazareth.”
“Hundreds of volunteers from the HaShomer HaHadash organization met Thursday to express their grievances over supposed public land expropriation at the hands of the Arabs in the north. “The State of Israel has a national mission to protect the 4 million dunams (about 988,500 acres) that are being stolen from under their noses,” said one of the organization’s members, Brig. Gen. (res.) Ram Shmueli.”
“The State of Israel is “losing the Galilee” because of current government policies, Housing and Construction Minister Ariel Atias (Shas) said Thursday. Atias, speaking at an Israeli Bar Association conference in Tel Aviv, was reiterating the sentiments expressed by Jewish community heads in northern Israel and added that he sees “bringing the haredi community to the Wadi Ara areas as a national mission,” noting the expansion of Arab communities in the north must be stopped.“
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