Over the past few years, the Samaria Regional Council has concentrated its efforts in investing in foreign relations. As part of this effort, council head Yossi Dagan set out a number of times with the council’s foreign relations team to the United States and countries in Europe to lead a hasbarah campaign in Washington and parliaments in Europe, to form groups of friends for Samaria in Jewish communities around the world and recruit them for projects in Samaria. In the last three years, friends of Samaria have donated to and supported projects in the community including the building of synagogues and other projects in the community.
Due to the war, Dagan has conducted a blitz of phone calls the last three days, both personal and on Zoom, with the friends circles he cultivated in the last three years, with the aim of enlisting their aid to acquire weapons and combat equipment and protection for settlements in Samaria.
The friends of Samaria opened both their hearts and their wallets, promising to support the project of reinforcing security in Samarian settlements, to the tune of millions of shekels.
Among others, donations for acquiring weapons and combat equipment came from friends of Samaria in New York, Miami, Canada, and Paris, as well as the “brothers in the rear” coalition of the Charedi community.
At the same time, the Samaria Regional Council is working to reinforce the settlements with appropriate equipment for a variety of scenarios, expanding the first response teams in the settlements to encourage training of the teams and improving security components in the settlements while conducting a situational assessment every day at the newly opened emergency headquarters operating on a continuous basis. The Samaria Regional Council can acquire weapons due to it being a “worthy project” like the other local governments. Alongside raising funds from abroad, the Council worked to receive exceptional approval from the National Security Ministry to make such a large purchase of arms. National Security Minister Ben Gvir enlisted in the effort to expedite approvals, so that the arms buying could be carried out urgently.
Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan explained the effort: “Today we acquired hundreds of Arad rifles, an excellent weapon, which serves Israeli SWAT teams and special units, to reinforce the first response teams in Samaria. We did this via the friends of Samaria in the United States, Canada, and France, with whom we have been working to strengthen ties in recent years – in coming to meetings, lectures, and conferences, in their states and in bringing them to Samaria, to tour and connect. Now the friends of Samaria are opening their hearts and helping us protect the settlements of Samaria.”
“The rifles will immediately reach the first response teams, and their use will be in complete coordination with and at the instruction of the IDF, along with the settlement coordinators and the security department of the Samaria Regional Council, to protect the security of the citizens of Samaria and the entire State of Israel. We are at war. I wish to send condolences to all the families of the fallen throughout the country, including the dear soldiers and officers from Samaria, along with all the citizens of Israel harmed in this barbaric attack. We have a mission, and we will stand together and protect Samaria and all of the State of Israel for we are one people. At this time, we must be greatly united in faith, determination, and patience. We are determined to do so both in Samaria and also throughout the whole country.”
“We are here to win and restore national honor, deterrence, and protection of our residents, everywhere in the State of Israel. We are ready for any scenario along with the army to help in the protection of the People of Israel and achieve decisive victory. With God’s help, we will win.”
Israel Weapon Industries CEO, Brig.-Gen. (res.) Chaim Rubin, insisted on the importance of aid to Samaria: “The IWI family is also helping the residents of Samaria, like the citizens of the State of Israel as a whole. I hope from here, a full recovery for all the wounded and send my condolences to all the families of the killed in the State of Israel. We will win thanks to our faith and determination in our abilities, with God’s help.”
