Israeli Minister and Shomron Council Head Mark 21 Years Since Disengagement with Visit to Reestablished Sha-Nur

On Tuesday, Israeli Minister for the Diaspora and Combating Antisemitism, Amichai Shikli, toured the renewed settlements in northern Samaria alongside Yossi Dagan, head of the Shomron Regional Council. They visited the community of Sha-Nur and the new settlement Emek Dotan. At Sha-Nur, Dagan returned to his caravan 21 years after being expelled during the 2005 disengagement plan. Standing beneath the ancient fortress where the Israeli flag now flies again, Dagan reenacted the vow he made on the day of the expulsion.

Dagan recalled how, on that day, they watched from the roof as residents were forcibly removed while nearby Palestinian crowds celebrated with flags of the PLO and Hezbollah. Before being taken down from the roof, Rabbi Dov Lior tore Dagan’s shirt and instructed him to recite "Baruch Dayan HaEmet," a traditional mourning blessing. Dagan then vowed to fight to return to Sha-Nur and other northern Samaria settlements and to raise the Israeli flag over the fortress once more. Pointing to the flag now flying, he told Shikli, "This is the vow. We merited to fulfill it."

Shikli expressed deep emotion during the visit and recited the "Matziv Gvul Almah" blessing at the local synagogue, a prayer said upon seeing new Jewish settlements in the Land of Israel. He described the disengagement as one of the greatest tragedies for the Jewish people, surpassed only by the Oslo Accords, which he said paved the way for it. Shikli also visited the Shomron National Park, whose development is supported by his ministry in cooperation with the Ministry of Heritage, Ministry of Environmental Protection, and other government bodies.