New Settlement 'Giv'at Shomron' Established in Northern West Bank

Hundreds of people attended the establishment ceremony for the new settlement, "Giv'at Shomron," in the northern West Bank on Sunday. Ten founding families, graduates of the Ramat Gan Hesder Yeshiva, have settled in the area. This marks the tenth settlement established by the Shomron Regional Council in under a year. The settlement is located on the site of a former IDF paratrooper training base, near the evacuated settlement of Sa-Nur.

The establishment of Giv'at Shomron is part of a government-approved initiative to expand settlement activity in the region. The ceremony was attended by Yossi Dagan, Head of the Shomron Regional Council; MK Boaz Bismut, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee; Rabbi Berel Lazar, Chief Rabbi of Russia; Rabbi Yitzhak Kogan; Rabbi Yaakov Ariel; heads of the Ramat Gan Hesder Yeshiva; Ze'ev Hever, Secretary-General of Amanah; and the founding families.

This initiative is part of the "Connection Plan" led by the Shomron Regional Council in cooperation with Amanah and the Settlement Division. The plan aims to establish 19 new settlements in northern Samaria, replacing the four settlements evacuated during the 2005 disengagement, as part of the "Million in Samaria" plan.

Yossi Dagan stated that Giv'at Shomron is "our answer to the expulsion" and a "rectification" of northern Samaria, emphasizing the return to a site from which Israelis were previously removed. Rabbi Yaakov Ariel blessed the families, wishing them peace and blessings for "tikkun olam" (repairing the world). Rabbi Berel Lazar called the families "the true heroes of the people of Israel" for their dedication. Rabbi Yehoshua Shapira described the settlement as another "clause in an eternal covenant" between the Israeli nation and the land. MK Boaz Bismut thanked the families for "building the land."