"A huge settlement above the biblical valley": The plan in Samaria is taking root
Dozens of residential structures have been placed in the new settlement of Emek Dotan. With their placement and the progress of development works, the various parties are now preparing for the first families to move in.
Another step on the way to renewing settlement in the northern West Bank. In recent weeks, dozens of residential structures have been placed in the new settlement of Emek Dotan in preparation for the first families to move in. The settlement, which is being established in the heart of the biblical Dotan Valley, is expected to house hundreds of families in the future and become one of the central settlement hubs in the region.
Emek Dotan is part of the "Reconnection Plan" led by the Samaria Regional Council and the Amana movement, under which the establishment of 19 new settlements in the northern West Bank is planned — in place of the four settlements that were evacuated as part of the disengagement plan. The council notes that the promotion of the settlements is being carried out in accordance with cabinet decisions, led by Minister of Defense Israel Katz and Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich.
Against the backdrop of preparations for moving in, the head of the Samaria Regional Council, Yossi Dagan, arrived at the work site together with the Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Education, Igal Tsarfati, as part of a professional tour that dealt with the establishment of educational institutions in the new settlements, following a tour conducted in the area by Minister of Education Yoav Kisch. The two participated in the placement of the structures together with the professional teams, and on the spot, Dagan recited the "Shehecheyanu" blessing.
Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Education Igal Tsarfati emphasized the ministry's commitment to accompanying the establishment of the new settlements. "Our commitment is to continue and provide educational solutions in the Samaria Regional Council. We are working together everywhere there is a settlement to assist and provide educational solutions," he said.
Dagan defined the placement of the structures as another milestone in the return of settlement to the northern West Bank. "In the place where four settlements were uprooted, we are building 19 settlements. Instead of the disengagement plan, we are doing the reconnection plan together," he said.
He later described his vision for the new settlement: "A huge settlement will be established here, a center of the renewing northern West Bank, above the biblical Dotan Valley. Hundreds of families will live here, thousands of citizens of the State of Israel. This will be a center of the State of Israel not only geographically, not only historically and not only in terms of security, but also municipally and organically."
The head of the council thanked the Amana movement, Zeev Hever (Zambish), Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich, Minister of Defense Israel Katz, Minister of Education Yoav Kisch, and the government ministers who, according to him, helped in promoting the move, as well as the Ministry of Education teams accompanying the planning of educational institutions in the new settlements.
Dagan also thanked the families who are expected to settle in the place. "Thank you very much to the pioneer families who are pushing this thing with all their might and making the impossible possible. The people of Israel are returning to the northern West Bank. The people of Israel are winning."
Rabbi Chaim Baruch, who heads the pre-military institutions whose graduates are expected to establish the settlement, said that the move has national and symbolic significance. "We are returning home after a long period in which we were excluded from the northern West Bank. We are returning, and with strength.
"In the place where the division in the people of Israel began with the sale of Joseph, exactly in the place to which we are returning in the Dotan Valley, we are working to restore brotherhood, joy, and togetherness in the parts of Israeli society. The Emek Dotan settlement is moving in with the goal of restoring unity to the people of Israel."
With the placement of the residential structures and the progress of development works, the various parties are now preparing for the first families to move in. For the leaders of the move, this is another milestone in the plan to expand settlement in the northern West Bank and to establish a sequence of new settlements in the area.
