Construction of new community begins in Judea and Samaria

“After decades, I have the privilege to be the prime minister to build a new community,” Netanyahu said as construction began for a new Israeli community in Judea and Samaria.

Construction workers began work on a new community, named Amichai, in the Shilo Valley in northern Samaria on Tuesday.

Amichai is the first new Israeli community to be built in Judea and Samaria in two decades, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated.

Netanyahu had vowed to build in order to replace Amona, a community that was dismantled in February following an Israeli Supreme Court ruling based on allegations that it had been built on privately owned Palestinian land, although there were no documents to prove that claim.

“Today work began in the field, as I promised, to establish a new community for the Amona settlers,” Netanyahu wrote on Twitter. “After decades, I have the privilege to be the prime minister to build a new community,” he said.

Over 600,000 Israelis live in Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem. Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005 and the Islamic militant group Hamas took over the territory soon after.

Israel has not built a full-fledged new community since the 1990s. Instead, construction during that period has expanded existing towns.

Trump’s senior aide and son-in-law Jared Kushner arrived on Wednesday to push for a revival of the peace process. Jason Greenblatt, Trump’s international envoy, arrived on Monday.

By: World Israel News Staff
AP contributed to this report.