Fourteen pioneering families broke ground on Wednesday to establish and inaugurate the new community of “Neot Harim” in western Binyamin. The ceremony was attended by Binyamin Governor and Yesha Council Chairman Israel Gantz, along with government ministers, Members of the Knesset, and veteran settlement leaders, at a site of strategic value for the security of central Israel.
The new town sits between Neve Tzuf and Nahliel, marking the first new Israeli community established in this corridor in decades. Its presence creates vital territorial continuity across the sector and reinforces control over open terrain situated directly beneath the standard commercial approach route into Ben Gurion International Airport. The milestone carried somber significance. Without prior coordination, the establishment ceremony took place exactly on the 30th day (shloshim) since the murder of Netanel Shakron in a ‘Palestinian’ terror shooting attack at the nearby Ein Riya spring. The timing underscored an enduring Zionist motif of renewal and development emerging in direct response to bereavement and loss.
Neot Harim is the third new community established in Binyamin over the past six months and the second advanced under a strategic plan implementing the Israeli Security Cabinet’s resolution to authorize 13 new communities in the area. The initial settlement phase became possible after extensive earthmoving operations and the paving of an access road spanning approximately 3.5 kilometers.
Delivering an address at the ceremony, Binyamin Governor Israel Gantz stated: “Today, on the 30th day since the murder of Netanel Shakron, as his family gathers beside his grave, our hearts remain with them in grief and longing. On this very day, not far from the spring where Netanel was murdered, we inaugurate the new town of Neot Harim and declare with a powerful voice: ‘In thy blood, live.'”
Gantz issued an unequivocal message to terror factions: “You attempted to murder us and compel us to leave, but today families are moving in to build their lives here in a new town. We are here, we have won, and we will keep winning. From Neot Harim, we send a clear message to anyone dreaming of dangerous uprootings or an independent ‘Palestinian’ state opposite the Gush Dan metropolis: we will continue to deepen our roots and fortify Israel’s security.”
Yishai Merling, Chairman of the Settlement Division, stated: “We were deeply moved to stand alongside the pioneer families on the grounds of Neot Harim today. On the map it represents a single coordinate, but on the ground it is the strategic hinge transforming the Talmonim bloc and northern Binyamin into a unified territorial bloc. Our mission is to pave the path forward—delivering roads, infrastructure, and permanent homes—so this hilltop becomes a flourishing, permanent community.”