Settlers call on US Jews to buy West Bank homes
Yesha Council exports activity overseas with fair marketing homes in settlements to American investors
"You too can own a home and strengthen the Zionist dream," proclaims an advertisement issued by the Yesha Council and the Amana organization in an appeal to the United States Jewry, as the settler movement acts to thaw the deep freeze which has taken over construction in the West Bank.
The Amana organization defines itself as "the settlement movement of Gush Emunim, with the primary goal of developing communities in Judea, Samaria, the Golan Heights, the Galilee and the Negev."
The two groups have launched a campaign which will allow American Jews to purchase a second home in a settlement, pitching the deal as a zero risk venture: "Your investment is insured, protected and 100 percent legal," proclaims the ad.
The government virtually no longer authorizes new construction projects in the West Bank and Israeli citizens are wary to invest their money in the area, whose future depends on the for-now-forgotten realignment plan which may see the entire region evacuated.
And so Yesha and Amana decided to turn to Americans interested in building their dream home in the hills of the West Bank: A cottage in Kiryat Arba or a villa in Karnei Shomron. The houses are priced anywhere from $94,000 to $170,000 per unit.
Yesha leader: Americans afraid at first
Last month saw one of the Yesha Council leaders, Pinchas Wallerstein, meeting with Jewish community leaders in the United States and pitching the idea of organizing groups or individual investors interested in the region.
"They were afraid at first," says Wallerstein, "they asked a lot of difficult questions about what will become of the houses if it is again decided to evacuate part of the Land of Israel. They were concerned but very receptive to our offer."
Following the US visit, the Amana organization set out to participate in a housing fair in New Jersey, where they will try to market homes in settlements.
