An historic milestone was marked on Thursday in northern Samaria as the first families of a pioneering settlement group entered the Jewish community of Kadim, 21 years after it was uprooted during the 2005 Disengagement and Expulsion. Approximately 30 families moved into permanent residences in the newly re-established town, accompanied by Finance Minister and Minister in the Defense Ministry Bezalel Smotrich alongside Samaria Governor Yossi Dagan, both of whom spearheaded the historic return and legal regulation of communities in the area.
1+Kadim is being re-established by a unique pioneer nucleus comprised predominantly of young families from Tel Aviv and central Israel, founded by graduates of Zionist yeshivot and IDF reservists who fought in the Swords of Iron War. The arrival was marked by an emotional scene as Ogen Drori—a son of one of Kadim’s founding families, a disabled IDF veteran who survived 11 separate shooting attacks, and who was expelled from the town in 2005—arrived carrying the original community flag he preserved since the day of the expulsion. The establishment of the community and entry into homes precede the official dedication ceremony scheduled for Thursday, attended by government ministers, Knesset members, and public dignitaries, including Governor Yossi Dagan and Amana Secretary-General Zeev Hever (Zambish). The reestablishment of Jewish presence forms the vanguard of the “Connection Plan,” following landmark Cabinet and Government resolutions to establish 19 new Jewish communities across northern Samaria to replace the four towns uprooted during the 2005 expulsion.
1+Finance Minister and Minister in the Defense Ministry Bezalel Smotrich praised the milestone, declaring that Thursday marks the historic correction of the crime of the expulsion, emphasizing that these thriving Jewish towns form a vital strategic security belt for the State of Israel. Samaria Governor Yossi Dagan added with deep emotion that the spirit of the Jewish people is stronger than any retreat, noting that the triumphant return to Kadim completes the historic restoration of all four uprooted northern Samaria communities—Homesh, Sa-Nur, Ganim, and Kadim.