Israeli authorities have completed a land surveying project at an unauthorized outpost in Samaria, paving the way for state recognition and the formal establishment of a full-fledged town.
According to a report Tuesday morning in Yediot Aharonot, the Defense Ministry’s Civil Administration has found that 60 dunams (15 acres) of land at the Evyatar outpost near the Tapuah Junction in Samaria is state land – thus making it eligible for state recognition.
Following the completion of the land survey, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Defense Minister Benny Gantz are expected to green light the formal establishment of a new town at the site of the Evyatar outpost, in keeping with an agreement with residents signed earlier this year.
Evyatar, which was first established in 2013 following the murder of Evyatar Borovsky in a terrorist attack at Tapuah Junction, was dismantled by the Netanyahu government, before being reestablished following a terrorist attack at the Junction in 2021.
In June, Gantz, Bennett, and Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked reached a deal with residents of Evyatar and Samaria Regional Council chief Yossi Dagan which secured residents’ voluntary departure, in exchange for a pledge to convert the outpost into a Hesder yeshiva.
In addition, under the deal, if the land in question is found to be state owned, residents were promised the right to resettle the area with government recognition.