New Community Established in Samaria; Named after Slain Minister Rehavam Ze’evi

The new community of Rehavam in Samaria was officially established this week, several months after the Israeli government approved the creation of 22 new communities across Judea and Samaria.

Among the most notable of the government approvals were Homesh and Sa-Nur, communities in northern Samaria that were evacuated during Israel’s 2005 Disengagement Plan, when Israel withdrew its citizens and military from the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria. Although Sa-Nur was included in legislation repealing the disengagement law, practical approval to return had been delayed for years, largely due to security considerations. Other approved sites include Mount Ebal in Samaria, where Joshua built an altar upon crossing the Jordan river with the Israelites; five communities in the Jordan valley; and four in Mt. Hebron.

The government decision prompted the regional council heads to send a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, arguing that applying Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria is not a diplomatic gesture but an urgent security necessity, especially in the aftermath of October 7. “There is no vacuum,” they wrote. “It is either Israeli sovereignty or an Arab terror state in the heart of the land—there is no third option.”

The New “Rehavam” Community

Ten pioneering families moved onto the land in a festive inauguration ceremony, formally founding the community. Rehavam is located along the Trans-Samaria Highway (Highway 5), near the community of Migdalim, an important strategic location. Its establishment is part of the “One Million in Samaria” initiative led by Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan, a comprehensive plan aimed at expanding Jewish settlement and strengthening demographic growth in the region.

Speaking at the inauguration, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said: “We will continue to solidify our hold on the ancestral regions of Judea and Samaria and to fortify Israel’s security belt.”

Dagan emphasized that the move was part of a broader planned strategy: “We are working according to a structured plan to expand settlement in Samaria, and Rehavam is an integral part of that plan.”

New residents Ariel and Noam Mishilker described the moment as deeply meaningful: “We came to establish a new community. It’s a joyful and emotional feeling. We hope the community grows to encompass the surrounding land.”

Tamar and Oz Turgeman, who moved from the nearby community of Bruchin, added that they wanted “to be part of the settlement enterprise and help build a strong familial community.”

Rehavam Ze’evi, Slain Minister

The new community is named for Rehavam Ze’evi, who was was murdered at the entrance to his hotel room in Jerusalem by Palestinian assassins from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), while serving as Israel’s Minister of Tourism.

Ze’evi, who was nicknamed “Gandhi” since his days in the pre-state underground defense force Palmach, was a popular and beloved right-wing politician and IDF general. He served as an intelligence officer in Israel’s War of Independence, and after a long career in the army, returned as special assistant to the Chief of Staff during the Yom Kippur war. In 1981 he was appointed director of the Eretz Israel Museum in Tel Aviv, a position he held for ten years.

In his public life, Ze’evi was a fierce proponent of keeping the Land of Israel whole and one of the strongest opponents to the Oslo Accords.  He was also known for his extensive knowledge of the history of Israel, editing books on this topic and about various military topics in articles and columns and 65 books published by the Defense Ministry and the Eretz-Israel Museum. In the last years of his life, he wore a military identity disc around his neck with the names of missing IDF soldiers as a way of expressing his solidarity with them and their families.

At the inauguration ceremony, Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan spoke of the man the community was named for:

“My teacher and mentor, Rehavam Ze’evi—Gandhi, may God avenge his blood—was, as Commander of the Central Command immediately after the Six-Day War, the first to prepare a comprehensive master plan for Jewish settlement in Judea, Samaria, and the Gaza Strip.

In fact, the communities we are establishing today are being built on the foundation of the plan Rehavam Ze’evi himself authored. And today, on this very day, we are privileged to establish and dedicate a new community in Samaria bearing his name.

Rehavam—a name that connects Samaria and the heart of Samaria to the Jordan Valley. Blessed are you for meriting to establish such an important community, and blessed are we to merit being partners together with you.”

For supporters of Israel’s historic heartland, the establishment of Rehavam marks not only the fulfillment of a government decision, but another tangible step in the ongoing return of the Jewish people to the hills of Samaria, where biblical history and modern state-building continue to converge.

““Hear the word of the Lord, you nations;
    proclaim it in distant coastlands:
‘He who scattered Israel will gather them
    and will watch over his flock like a shepherd….

I will turn their mourning into gladness;
    I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow”

(Jeremiah 31:10, 13).