Standing on the summit of Mount Kabir in Samaria on Monday, April 7, 792 meters (a half-mile) above sea level, we could make out the mountains of Gilboa through the thick mist. The Jewish settlement Elon Moreh lies on the slopes of Mount Kabir, next to the city of Nablus. The settlement’s distinctive red roofs fill the nearby landscape like some pastoral village scene. It's one of the oldest symbols of the entire settlement enterprise.
We climbed the mountain at noon, together with Benny Katzover, chairman of the Samaria Settlers’ Committee and a founder of Elon Moreh. Among the general public, Katzover is one of the people most identified with the Gush Emunim settlement movement, which could be called the DNA of the settlement enterprise. He arrived in Hebron when he was 21, and a short time after that he got married. His wedding was the first Jewish wedding to take place in Hebron since the riots of 1929. He later became a leader of the settlement umbrella organization Yesha Council, the political front for the settlements, and served as head of the Samaria Regional Council.