Mrs. Anita Tucker

Seven years after Anita Tucker and her husband Stuart came as a young couple from the United States to make Aliyah, they worked together with their trailblazing friends to establish the new town of Netzer Hazani, the first of the 23 developing community towns of Gush Katif. Anita and her friends succeeded in turning the sands into arable land whose produce soon became highly sought after throughout the world. This was all done with a mixture of Torah values and physical labor, out of a strong belief in the people of Israel and the land of Israel. Throughout the years the residents of Netzer Hazani and Gush Katif suffered from severe terror attacks, and many of their friends were murdered. However despite the pain and the hardships, they continued to work the land with devotion and delight.

In August 2005, thirty years since the establishment of Netzer Hazani and after a long struggle, Anita, her family, and all the residents of Gush Katif were expelled from their homes and their lands, leaving behind the fruits of their labor, their houses, greenhouses and memories. During the following year Anita, her husband and her children were transferred between various guest houses and hostels and afterwards were transferred to a temporary caravilla site.

Throughout the long years since, despite the pain and disappointment felt by the residents of Gush Katif, Anita continued to work towards and believe in the future. With her strong beliefs she succeeded in upholding the former community and in strengthening the former Gush Katif residents.

Anita established many projects for the strengthening of families and communities and she forged bonds with communities in Israel and the rest of the world, lectured in many places, worked in cooperation with the JobKatif organization and the Gush Katif Committee, established many Family Aid projects including the “Chibuk Kalot” fund for brides, and has become the central axis for aid to the residents of Gush Katif.

Anita was forced from her role as a farmer working the land into the role of a community leader for Netzer Hazani and she became a central partner in the leadership of the greater Gush Katif community.

With her great belief in the people of Israel, with her eternal optimism and her ever-present smile, Anita has succeeded in restoring hope to many of the former residents of Gush Katif, giving them the faith and the strength to begin anew.

In the almost 5 years since, Anita still lives in the temporary caravilla site with family and friends, and she works to strengthen the community and to overcome the many obstacles they face in order to rebuild for the future, so that there will be a renewed permanent town. Despite all that she experienced, she believes with all her heart in the people of Israel, believing it her mission to bring hearts close together and unify the nation. There had been 21 major towns of Gush Katif during the years of settling. It is because of the tireless efforts of community building and maintaining hope that after being dispersed from their homes, the former residents of Gush Katif still live in 21 communities currently located in temporary caravilla sites today.

Anita is currently involved in the planning of the new community to be named Netzer Hazani, to be located in the Nachal Sorek Regional Council area. Plans for this new community include approximately 1600 dunams of land; 150 dunams are being set aside for the actual town, 35 dunams are set aside for tourism, and the remaining land is earmarked for agriculture and produce packing houses. There are 130 families planning on moving to the new Netzer Hazani. In line with planning for the future, the first building whose foundations have been laid will be the community’s kindergarten. Many plans are being presented for the remaining buildings, and through this all, Anita and her community are a symbol of faith, love of Israel, and pure Zionism.