‘Today is really the beginning’: Families return to Ganim after 21 years

Families began taking up residence in Ganim on Thursday, 21 years after Israel evacuated four communities in northern Samaria, with dozens of caravans placed at the site as part of a government-backed effort to rebuild them.

The move is part of a broader effort to reestablish the Jewish communities evacuated during the 2005 disengagement. Jewish residents have already returned to Homesh and Sa-Nur, while Kadim is also expected to be reestablished.

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For Anat Etzion, who grew up in Gush Katif in the southern Gaza Strip, the move to Ganim was closely tied to memories of the community she left behind. She described the day as a mixture of excitement and hope.

“Today, after 21 years, we are returning to the community of Ganim,” Etzion said. “We are happy to return to the land of our forefathers, to our land—the land without which we have no other place.”

After arriving at Ganim, Etzion met a childhood friend from Ganei Tal, the Gush Katif community where they had grown up together. The two prayed spoke about the possibility of one day returning to their former hometown.

“Just as we are returning to Ganim today, we will also return to settle Gush Katif and all the expanses of our land, all the places where we grew up,” she said.

Moria Maslati told TPS-IL that she expects to move into Ganim next week. Her caravan arrived on Wednesday but still needs to be assembled and connected to water and electricity.

“I already have boxes packed because I thought I was moving in today,” Maslati said. “As soon as everything is ready, we’re coming.”

She said she was excited to see families begin arriving at the site. “Today is really the beginning,” she said.

The families are being joined by graduates of the Bnei David yeshivah in Eli, who have helped establish a core group for the new community and hope to establish a yeshivah there as well.

Yosef Meir Karsenti, one of the group’s members, said families had arrived from different parts of Israel.

“It feels like settling the land, returning to the soil, reconnecting with the land,” Karsenti said. “It’s incredibly exciting to reconnect with our country, with land that we left behind for 21 years.”

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who also serves as an additional minister within the Defense Ministry with authority over civil affairs in Judea and Samaria, attended the event and said 11 new communities would be established in northern Samaria this summer, including Ganim, Homesh, Sa-Nur and Kadim.

Defense Minister Israel Katz, who also attended the ceremony, said: “This is our home, this is the Land of Israel, this is where we will remain forever.”

Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan called the move “a moment of historic rectification” and said the government’s plans would significantly increase the Jewish population in northern Samaria.

Israel evacuated Homesh, Sa-Nur, Ganim and Kadim as part of the 2005 disengagement from the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria. The Knesset partially repealed the Disengagement Law in 2023, paving the way for the return of Jewish communities to the area.

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