Yossi Dagan, the head of the Shomron (Samaria) Regional Council, met with Paula White, a senior advisor to President Donald Trump and the newly appointed head of the White House Faith Office, as part of ongoing discussions he is having with top officials to garner support for communities in Judea and Samaria and strengthen the Judea and Samaria lobby in Congress. The lobby is working to pass legislation eliminating the term “West Bank” from official U.S. documents, replacing it with “Judea and Samaria.” Dagan’s mission includes gaining US support for Israeli sovereignty over the Biblical heartland. 

After he had met with White, Dagan presented her with a mezuzah case made from stones of Mount Ebal in Samaria by artist Asaf Kidron, a resident of Itamar.

 “I am so honored to receive this absolutely beautiful gift,” White said. “I will hang it in my office. I am grateful to be here and pray for blessings over Judea and Samaria. I pray for peace for Israel and Jerusalem.”

A mezuzah is a parchment inscribed with the Jewish prayer Shema Yisrael, beginning with the phrase: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord (is) our God, the Lord is One” and recorded in Deuteronomy 6:4–9 and 11:13–21. The parchment must be explicitly prepared from a kosher animal, and the verses must be hand-written with a specific ink by a God-fearing Jew with a quill. The parchment is then rolled up and placed inside the case, which is affixed to the right side of the doorpost

The mezuzah is reminiscent of the lamb’s blood that was painted on the lintels of Jewish homes to protect them from the angel of death before they left Egypt. It is a visible reminder of the covenant the Jews have with God. The back of the parchment is inscribed with the word “Shaddai,” spelled shin, dalet, yod, which is one of the names of God. These are also the initials of the phrase shomer daltot yisrael, the guardian of the doors of Israel.

“I want to thank you,” Dagan responded to White. “You are doing a mission from God. A historic mission, we are praying for your success and for our success. You are saving the world with President Trump. We are praying together to be strong in the land of the Bible, in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, and make the ties between the US and Israel great again.”

As the meeting ended, Dagan blessed White with the Kohanic blessing and encouraged her, saying, “God will give you strength and success to restore the good cooperation between the US and the State of Israel – to be strong again!”