A historic milestone was marked in the Binyamin Regional Council with the establishment of Shibolet Farm near the community of Mevo Horon.
The new site is the 50th farm established within the council area, joining dozens of observation and holding points spread throughout the region. Council officials stated that the initiative is intended to create a strong Israeli territorial continuity and prevent hostile takeovers of state lands.
The farm initiative operates in cooperation with government ministries, the Settlement Division, and the Israel Defense Forces, with the aim of serving as a strategic response to alleged takeover attempts by the Palestinian Authority.
The settlement framework in Binyamin currently operates through two coordinated branches: the establishment of new communities alongside agricultural farms. The farms serve as connecting links between existing communities and connect the heart of the country to Jerusalem and the Gush Dan region.
According to the council, farms are now widely spread throughout western Binyamin, the Shiloh bloc, and the eastern part of the council area. The farmers act as “guardians of the land" through agriculture and grazing, ensuring a permanent presence along strategic routes and properties. Alongside the regulated farm project, many hilltop outposts that were independently established over the years also operate throughout Binyamin.
Settlement Affairs and National Missions Minister Orit Strock welcomed the move, saying: “The farms are the game changer in the campaign to repair the damage of Oslo: the primary tool through which the State of Israel succeeds in safeguarding state lands, providing an effective response to the Palestinian Authority’s takeover project, and creating broad security control throughout Judea and Samaria. I salute the pioneers of the farms, and I see it as both a great privilege and a great obligation to provide them with governmental support."
Binyamin Regional Council head and Yesha Council chairman Israel Ganz emphasized the importance of the farms as a defensive belt protecting central Israel.
“Binyamin is breaking new ground in the field of farms and settlement activity in open areas. We are proud to assist the farms that connect the communities and bind Binyamin to the State of Israel with an unbreakable connection. Every week the farms prevent terrorism and criminal activity, and constitute the defensive belt of central Israel. It must be understood - it is either us or the Palestinian Authority’s terror army, the long arm of Iran."
