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Israeli Settlement Leader Invites Obama to Visit

Oded Ravivi, head of Efrat's regional council, talks about the personal invitation he extended to the US president to visit the Gush Etzion settlement block in an interview with Mazal Mualem.
A mosque in the Palestinian West Bank village of Abdullah Ibrahim (rear) is seen behind houses in West Bank Jewish settlement of Efrat, near Bethlehem December 22, 2011. Israel on Wednesday said four European U.N. Security Council members should support a resumption of stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks because their criticism of the Jewish state, including it's construction of new settlements, could sideline them from negotiations. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2VJOQ
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Oded Ravivi, Head of the Efrat Regional Council in the Gush Etzion settlement block, has become accustomed to the surprise in the faces of people who first meet him. While people expect to meet a combative, unyielding settler, instead they encounter a youngish, 44-year-old lawyer and lieutenant colonel (Res.) who was born in Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv.

It started for practical reasons, not purely ideological ones. Ravivi found his way to Efrat after his marriage, when he was searching for a house and found Jerusalem too expensive. He built his house ten minutes from the capital city, between Bethlehem and Hebron, fathered six children there and became involved in local politics. Five years ago, he was elected to the position of Head of the Efrat Regional Council. Ravivi brought to his job ideological pragmatism and a world view in favor of coexistence with the Palestinians.

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