ZIONIST ORGANIZATION OF AMERICA Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) Letter to PM Naftali Bennett - Stop the Destruction of Arugot Farms! January 10, 2022 By Hand Delivery to Knesset Mailbox and Email Prime Minister Naftali Bennett – c/o [email protected] Deputy Prime Minister Benjamin Gantz - [email protected] Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar – [email protected] Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked – [email protected] State of Israel Jerusalem, Israel Re: URGENT Request to stop Minhal Ezrahi’s immoral and discriminatory planned destruction of terror victim Ezra Schwartz vineyard and Jewish families’ livelihoods at Arugot Farms Dear Prime Minister Bennett, Deputy Prime Minister Gantz and Justice Minister Sa’ar: The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) – the oldest pro-Israel organization in America – urges you to use your good offices to stop the Minhal Ezrahi (Israeli Civil administration)’s immoral and discriminatory planned destruction of the vineyard planted by Jewish-American terror victim Ezra Schwartz’s family at Arugot Farms. The vineyard and Arugot Farms provide a livelihood for several Jewish families, including the family of Rabbi Jeremy Gimpel, who ran on PM Bennett’s Jewish Home slate. We understand that years of work and hundreds of thousands of shekels were spent on the vineyard. ZOA members who have visited Arugot Farms have been extremely impressed with the love and dedication of the Jewish families and the volunteers from around the world who transformed into an oasis what was previously barren historic Jewish land. Arugot Farms is near where King David tended his sheep as a boy. Destroying the Ezra Schwartz/Arugot Farms vineyard, especially in this Shmittah year, would cause irreparable harm and grief to the already-bereaved Schwartz family, the Jewish families of Arugot farm, and the entire Zionist cause. Destroying the vineyard would also traumatize and disillusion the IDF boys asked to carry out this immoral and discriminatory order, which violates Jewish law. The planned destruction of the Ezra Schwartz/Arugot Farms vineyard violates the Halakha forbidding destroying fruit-bearing trees even when besieging a city (Deuteronomy/Devarim 20:19) and violates Jewish law prohibiting destroying another Jews’ livelihood. The highest form of charity is to enable another to earn a livelihood. Destroying that livelihood is a grave sin. Destroying the Arugot Farms vineyard would have terrible international repercussions that go way beyond the vineyard and its dedicated families and the Schwartz family. While visiting Arugot Farms, ZOA members met Germans who were volunteering at the farm as their way of trying to atone for the horrors that the Nazi regime wreaked on the Jewish people during World War 2. We shudder at the sort of message that it would send if the work of these caring Germans seeking to atone for the Holocaust were destroyed by the Israeli government. READ MORE VIEW LETTER AS PDF You can watch the full 2021 ZOA Virtual Superstar Gala on our Youtube Channel. WATCH NOW ‌ ‌ ‌ About Us News Videos ZOA Report Events Founded in 1897, ZOA played a key role in the Jewish State's re-establishment. Today, ZOA is the leading major American Jewish organization courageously defending Israel and the Jewish people; fighting against all forms of antisemitism, including anti-Jewish boycotts; and promoting the Jewish people's lawful right to live in and settle historic Jewish lands. ZOA exposes that a Palestinian state would endanger Israel's existence; presents the facts about the Arab/Islamic war against Israel; and combats the anti-Israel lie that Israel is an "occupier" of her own land. ZOA spearheaded long battles to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, and apply civil rights protections to Jewish students. ZOA provides free legal assistance and programs to pro-Israel students at numerous college campuses. ZOA's bold, unapologetic voice has a significant impact on public discourse and policy. DONATE NOW Copyright © Zionist Organization of America 2022, All rights reserved. Zionist Organization of America | 633 Third Ave, 31 B, New York, NY 10017 Unsubscribe [email protected] Update Profile | Constant Contact Data Notice Sent by [email protected]