Twenty-one years after the Disengagement from the communities of northern Samaria, and following a Cabinet decision led by Minister Bezalel Smotrich to legalize dozens of communities, families from the Ganim group arrived on the ground Thursday morning and reestablished the community.
Dozens of caravans have been placed at the site to house the families, as well as a branch of the Bnei David institutions established there.
Alongside the return to Ganim and the reestablishment of Homesh and Sa-Nur, the community of Kadim is also expected to be reestablished soon, completing the reversal of the disengagement from northern Samaria.
Minister Smotrich said Thursday morning, as the families returned to Ganim: “Twenty-one years after the terrible sin of the disengagement from Gush Katif and northern Samaria, we are finally erasing the disgrace of the expulsion from northern Samaria. This morning, we returned to Ganim, one of the four communities that were evacuated, with a wonderful community from the Bnei David institutions in Eli."
“We are setting up 11 new communities this summer and physically establishing them on the ground in northern Samaria," Smotrich said. “There were four; there will be 18 communities, 11 of them immediately, including Homesh, Sa-Nur, Ganim and Kadim. And there is more to come."
The minister also addressed the security significance of the return to Ganim.
“Samaria is an inseparable part of the Land of Israel and of the State of Israel’s security belt. When we are in Ganim, there is security in Afula, Harish and Hadera. When we are in southern Mount Hebron, there is security in Beersheba, Kiryat Gat and Kiryat Malachi. And when we are in Samaria, there is security in Kfar Saba, Ra’anana, Herzliya, Hod Hasharon and Netanya.
“We are strengthening the security belt, killing the idea of a Palestinian state, and making clear that the Land of Israel is ours, forever."
Defense Minister Israel Katz participated in the ceremony and said: "This is our home, this is the Land of Israel, this is where we will remain forever."
Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan accompanied the families as they entered their homes for the first time and set up their homes in the community.
“This is a moment of historic rectification," Dagan said. “Twenty-one years ago, families were expelled from here, homes were destroyed, and an attempt was made to uproot the Jewish community enterprise from northern Samaria. Today, we are returning to Ganim and rebuilding it. Not only have we returned to the four communities that were uprooted, we are doubling and tripling the Jewish population in northern Samaria."
Dagan added: “Instead of uprooting, we are bringing construction. Instead of retreat, we are bringing communities. Ganim will be a huge community-ten times larger. From here, we only build. The people of Israel are coming home!"
Ilan Kotsky, chairman of the Ganim group, said: “Establishing the community of Ganim means returning to a region we left, and from our perspective, we are pioneers of 2026. We are very excited, and so are our children. I imagine that in another 10 years, Ganim will be a huge community of 1,000 families. It will be the jewel of Samaria."
Moriah Maslati, who moved to Ganim on Thursday morning, said: “Today is about much more than moving to the community-it is a moment of rectification, revival and coming home. Twenty-one years after families were uprooted from here, the people of Israel have returned and are rebuilding in the place they were forced to leave.
“We are excited to be among the families privileged to bring life, homes, community and children back here. The people of Israel are returning to their land, and we are privileged to be part of this historic moment. We are bringing life back to Ganim."