Old timers in Israel may recall the debate in the Knesset in 1979 about the Elon Moreh settlement, established that year near the Samarian village of Rujeib.
A controversy erupted because the original location was set up by the state on private land and many felt that while it was important for Israel to establish communities in Yehudah and Shomron (as the area is called in Hebrew) this should not be done on private land – in this case, land owned by Arabs living in the portion of Israel captured during the Six Day War in 1967.
Placing it on private land near Rujeib made it an illegal settlement, some considered.
Then-prime minister Menachem Begin rose to address the Knesset that year in an attempt to solve the dispute that was roiling the citizenry.
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