A first kindergarten building was installed on Wednesday in the revived West Bank settlement of Sha-Nor, in northern Samaria, ahead of the coming school year. The move comes 21 years after the original kindergarten there was shut down and evacuated during Israel’s disengagement from northern Samaria.
The building was placed with support from the Education Ministry, the Samaria Regional Council, the settlement leadership and donors. Officials said it is meant for children of families already living in Sha-Nor and for additional families expected to move there later, as part of a broader plan to expand education institutions in the area.
Residents, children and local families took part in the installation, alongside Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan, who once lived in Sha-Nor and was himself evacuated from it. Dagan recited the blessing of Shehecheyanu and told the children, “You are making history. We are bringing back to Sha-Nor the first kindergarten after 21 years. You are lucky to be part of the correction of the history of the Jewish people.” He added that after 21 years of struggle, “justice will come, even if it takes 21 years,” and said this was “the first kindergarten this year out of many” planned for the new settlements in northern Samaria.
A resident, Adi Gelbard, said her family had recently moved there and expressed hope that children would enter the kindergarten on September 1, with a future nursery as well. She called it “a great privilege” to help correct “this great injustice” and thanked ministers Israel Katz, Bezalel Smotrich and Yoav Kisch, as well as the Settlement Administration, the Civil Administration, Amana, the Samaria council staff and the pioneering residents.
