The quiet protest was attended by David Levy, who serves as the head of the Jordan Valley Regional Council. A Likud stalwart, he was sure that immediately after Ariel Sharon became prime minister, he would have an effect on the Palestinians and they would be cowed into silence. To his surprise, that didn't happen. Now Levy feels abandoned, as he did when Ehud Barak served as prime minister. We have the feeling that we have been abandoned by the state, and the result is that we are in a very difficult economic situation.
Farmers are in a big mess, and business owners have collapsed entirely.
Like his fellow residents, Levy has hopes for the forsaken Jordan Valley road. We feel that the public has placed a boycott on our highway, and has abandoned us. Among the dozens of demonstrators, there was one man to whom everyone wanted to pay their respects. They shook his hands, slapped him on the shoulder, and showered him with praise. Some looked at him as if their future depended on him.