Former head of the National Religious Party Rabbi Yitzchak Levy, spoke with the dati leumi Kippa website following the petira of former President Shimon Peres.

“My last meeting with him was after he stepped down as president” explains Rabbi Levy. We met at a tourism event arranged by the Tourism Ministry. Before entering we spoke about the Pollard affair”

“He was Prime Minister during Pollard. He told me a number of things that I do not think I would like to share at present, regarding what occurred on that fatal night, but I saw the deep pain he had and his total satisfaction that Pollard was released. Indeed, he identified with the great pain that Pollard was in prison. This was the last time we spoke and it was the last time we met, discussing the night Pollard was arrested”.

Rav Levy then spoke of the early stage of the settlement movement in the Shomron, which enjoyed total support from Peres. “I was on the council of the first core group in Elon Moreh. Rabin and Peres were Prime Minister and Defense Minister. We went to speak with them about moving to the Shomron and to my great surprise, Shimon Peres supported the idea and Rabin joined later on. If there is someone who was the first in the political echelon to support the first days of settlement in Elon Moreh in the Shomron it was Shimon Peres”.

“I remember the first meeting very well, in Tel Aviv, as we sat and talked with Peres who gave the okay for the first group to move onto what is Elon Moreh, the first yishuv, which was then in Kedumim, but called Elon Moreh”.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)