Rightists to plant trees in West Bank

'Obama's satellite can't pick up trees, in future homes will be built next to them'

Efrat Weiss

Published:

01.21.10, 10:26 / Israel News

Right-wing activists plan to plant 15,000 trees in the West Bank on Tu B'Shvat, which will be celebrated this weekend.

Bentzi Gopstein, of the Chasdei Meir Charity Fund, said Thursday, "This is a method of bypassing the freeze orders. It's a clever Zionist answer to the freeze."
Rightists say the temporary freeze in construction in settlements issued by the government does not cover trees, and are spending around NIS 100,000 ($27,000) on those to be planted throughout the West Bank.
The Chasdei Meir Fund behind the plan is named after Rabbi Meir Kahane. "We have a method of bypassing the freeze orders. There is no freeze on trees and no one can prohibit plantings on Tu B'Shvat. This is how we can take hold of vast areas in Judea and Samaria," Gopstein said.

"Obama's satellite can't pick up the trees and in the future homes will be built near them," he added.

Gopstein said the activists involved in the venture had begun to advertise it two weeks ago. "Residents from Tel Aviv, Raanana, Jerusalem, and other places throughout Israel donated money for the transcendence of the soul of someone close to them, and with this money the saplings were bought," he explained.