Jewish heritage in the West Bank, a tool of Israel’s right

The release of Minister of Education Rabbi Rafi Peretz’s plan to expand school trips to Jewish heritage sites in the territories caused a huge uproar in the ministry, which spilled over into politics. The minister envisions students visiting Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus, Shiloh River, Harasha Mountain and other sites across the Green Line. In response, Director General of the Ministry of Education Shmuel Abuav claims that Peretz has no authority to make such a decision, and that final approval for these trips must come from the security forces. Politicians are now responding with everything from congratulations “on this historic decision” (from the right) to sharp condemnation (from the left).

A closer look found that both the praise and condemnation were excessive. Though Peretz announced the plan on Aug. 20, the policy had been implemented in the educational system several years ago. The question is whether students, who visited the Tomb of the Patriarchs at age 15, will come to reject peace in the future as a result of these field trips? Will Israeli youth be able to visit these sites without seeing them through a political lens?

Soon after Gideon Saar was appointed education minister in 2009, he announced his plans “to strengthen Jewish values.” He interpreted this to include visits to David’s City archaeological park in Jerusalem. Thousands of students have visited the site since then. In 2011, Saar initiated a program called “Let’s Visit Hebron,” to bring students to see the Jewish sites in Hebron, including the Cave of the Patriarchs. He did so at the request of Malachi Levinger, head of the West Bank Kiryat Arba-Hebron local council. As expected, Levinger praised the initiative, calling it a “historic decision.” When Saar announced about one year later that he was adding a site in Samaria (ancient Shiloh site) to these field trips, about 500 parents signed a petition opposing field trips across the Green Line, claiming that these trips normalized the occupation.

In 2016, it was reported that the Israel Defense Forces approved a new military order allowing visits to dozens of historic sites in the West Bank, including Sebastia, Mount Gerizim, Nahal Shiloh and Harasha. Acting behind the scenes was the Samaria regional council, motivated by the belief that “students in the educational system must come visit the site that gave birth to the Jewish people.”