Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, stayed in the luxury suite at the Panda Hotel in the Golan town of Neve Ativ this week accompanied by the protest movements against him. From 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. protestors are permitted to make noise without any limit on the volume of the noise, according to the agreement reached with police. They use powerful speakers to ensure that Netanyahu cannot rest and enjoy a moment of silence on his vacation in the Golan Heights.
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The deafening noise of the trumpets and sirens could be heard loudly in all parts of the hotel and the surrounding area, and the residents are just waiting for the Netanyahus to leave and the dozens of protesters standing next to the hotel with them. The noise stopped each night immediately at 11:00 p.m, as shown by one of the residents who posted a video to show the tremendous noise right up to the last second which stops exactly at 11 p.m. "Before 11:00 p.m. the prime minister can't sleep if he wants to, neither can I," said a resident.
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Protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Neve Ativ
(Photo: Avihu Shapira)
Most of the residents of Neve Ativ, a pastoral settlement founded in 1970 by veterans of the Egoz commando unit who took part in the battle of Mount Hermon towering above it, support the activists' protest against the judicial overhaul, but in recent days there have also been voices opposing the noisy campaign that accompanied the Netanyahu's vacation, their second visit there in two months.
Shosh Tzoala, one of the founders of the settlement, met Wednesday night with the couple who hosted her, her daughter and two other residents in their suite at the hotel.
"I didn't sleep the whole night because of excitement. I feel that my dream has come true," said Tzoala. "The last time he was here, I was abroad and I said that this time I have to see him. I had an interview on one of the channels and I said in it that I really want to meet Sara and Bibi, and after 10 minutes I received a call from a senior member of the party who said that they were inviting me to their suite."
The meeting was held secretly, around 9:00 p.m. and lasted more than half an hour. Tzoala says that she left the meeting fascinated. "We sat and talked about everything. I told him that I was a tour guide in India and he told me about India and that Modi (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) was his friend. They told me about their son Avner who travels the world. It was a great conversation. They welcomed us with drinks and fruit and entertained us on the balcony of their suite."
Tzoala says that the Netanyahus cannot ignore the noise of the sirens and loudspeakers coming from the demonstrators. "They suffer a little from the noise and even though I have some opposition from the settlement, we managed to get them to reduce the amount of time they make noise outside. God helped us so it was cold last night and all the kibbutz people ran away."
The Netanyahus arrived at Neve Ativ on Sunday, as on their previous vacation in August at the same hotel. They were accompanied by the protesters, whose number is usually dozens and sometimes reaches up to 200. During their stay, the Netanyahu couple went on trips to nature reserves in the Golan and around the Sea of Galilee. Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman, who served as a tour guide as part of her military service, guided them on a trip to Sussita National Park. In the video they posted at the end of their visit, Netanyahu and Silman asked the public not to pollute the natural sites and collect their trash before they leave.
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Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman touring with the prime minister
(Photo: Kobi Alkotser Ltd)
The protesters are doing their best to disrupt Netanyahu's vacation while obeying the law. "The limits of this protest from my point of view and from the point of view of the absolute majority here are within the limits of the law," explains Amir Shoshani, one of the protest leaders in the "Goma Protest" movement. He adds: "We operate only within the framework of the law and do not operate loudspeakers between 2 p.m and 4 p.m or after 11 at night, and we are synced 100% with the Golan station of the Israel Police."
According to Shoshani, it is Netanyahu who brought upon himself the noise and the demonstrations that cause anguish and suffering to the hotel guests who paid a lot of money for their vacation, as well as to the other guests of the B&Bs and the residents of the settlement.
"We were hoping that he would choose to take his next expensive vacation in places that do not disturb the public. Like along the Kinneret, but Netanyahu deliberately chose, as an act of indifference, to go to a hotel that sits on the main road on the way to the village of Majdal Shams. He knew that we would be reluctant and that it would disturb the residents. However, he chose this place because he doesn't care about neither us nor the residents," accuses Shoshani.
Regarding the claims of the residents who suffer from the heavy noise, he says: "My feeling is that we are fighting a war with no choice and in a war with no choice the people suffer. I also suffer. I spend thousands of shekels a month on my activities and lose days of work and waste fuel and more. There is nothing to be done because it is a price that I am willing to pay, because I am defending my country against the policies of my prime minister. We are sorry for the grievances caused to the residents and I think that if he had chosen to take his vacation elsewhere and not within the settlement, this would not have happened."
Netanyahu is expected to end his vacation in the Golan on Friday morning and, upon his departure the large security detail that was placed for his protection in the area of the hotel complex in the settlement will be removed. In addition to the heavy noise, Neve Ativ reports that there have been quite a few cancellations of B&Bs by vacationers, who were afraid of the demonstrations and disruptions. This caused economic hardship to the tourism industry in the area, and now a rumor is spreading that the Netanyahus plan to return in the winter for a third vacation in Neve Ativ. The fear is that such a visit will cause serious damage to tourism in the area, at the peak of the ski season.
Ami Israel, CEO of the Panda Neve Ativ hotel, says that during the Netanyahu's second visit to the hotel, they were already used to hosting a VIP of this magnitude. The boutique hotel found itself in the middle of a controversy last time, in August, and protesters even wanted to take revenge on the hotel and tried to lower its ranking on Google. "We asked the security forces to consider the residents and vacationers and to do as much as possible so that they are not bothered," Israel said.
The CEO of the hotel complains that the protesters caused great inconvenience to all his guests.
"The noise is definitely disturbing and unpleasant, but it's not something I can't control. The vacationers go hiking for most of the day outside the hotel or use the indoor pool and hotel facilities and at some point, they hardly feel it anymore. It is a great honor for us to host a prime minister and if he comes here a second time it means that we have succeeded in the service and the hotel is beautiful and good in his eyes. My role as the CEO of the hotel is to host anyone, whoever they are - today the prime minister and tomorrow the president of a country or any other person, I will gladly host them all," he said.