Shaarei Tikva
Shaarei TikvaGur Dotan

Yehuda Fuchs, the commander of the IDF Central Command, has signed the order merging the localities of Shaarei Tikva and Ets Efraim, and they will become one local council to be called “Sha’ar Hashomron”.

No new local council has been established in Judea and Samaria since the late 1990s, and the move is now possible after it received the support and approval of Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked and Defense Minister Benny Gantz.

Shaked accepted the recommendation of the Interior Ministry's Boundaries Committee and signed a recommendation for the Defense Minister in early May. Gantz approved the outline and the commander of the IDF Central Command has signed the order to turn the localities into one local council.

The last local council established in Judea and Samaria was Beit El, 24 years ago. The localities of Shaarei Tikva and Ets Efraim have until now belonged to the Samaria Regional Council.

The opinion of Interior Ministry Director General Yair Hirsch states that the current situation, in which the two localities are managed separately under the Samaria Regional Council, "creates clear organizational difficulties, which ultimately affect the level of services provided to residents. Management under a new local council will provide a successful response to the needs of the residents and will improve the quality of life in these localities."

As for the source of revenue of the new local council, the Director General of the Interior Ministry noted that "the willingness of the Samaria Regional Council to distribute some of its revenues to the new council can assist in this need, and other solutions will be tailored to support the council's budget balance."

The head of the Samaria Regional Council, Yossi Dagan, welcomed the decision to unite the localities and said, "This is a step that will strategically and significantly strengthen the entire settlement in Samaria, and will provide a municipal solution of a much higher level of life and investment for the benefit of residents in Samaria."

He added, "The road to a million Jews in Samaria is through additional large localities, which will become urban centers and bring the masses. Our experience shows that the unification of authorities and the establishment of local councils in Judea and Samaria contribute to growth and prosperity."