Families return to Sa-Nur, hope to reestablish Samaria community 15 years after disengagement

“There is not a single person in the country who still thinks that it was right to evacuate these places,” said Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council.

By Josh Plank, World Israel News

Approximately 100 Israelis moved into Sa-Nur in northern Samaria on Monday night with the intention of reestablishing the town after its residents were forcibly evacuated by the government more than 15 years ago.

Knesset Member Ariel Kallner of the Likud accompanied the group, which consisted of around 20 families and young couples, some of whom had been expelled from Sa-Nur under the 2005 Disengagement Plan.

“The Disengagement Plan was a deadly combination of injustice and folly,” Kallner tweeted Tuesday morning.

“Every moment that the ‘disengagement’ law is on the books, it is a disgrace to the State of Israel. We will return again to every settlement!” he said.

Knesset Member Betzalel Smotrich of Yamina said there was no logical reason to destroy Sa-Nur and there is no logical reason to prohibit its reestablishment. “Mistakes need to be fixed,” he tweeted.

Smotrich called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “be on the right side of history and allow the move.”

Netanyahu has repeatedly blocked the passage of legislation aimed at rescinding the disengagement.

Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council and former resident of Sa-Nur, has been fighting for its reestablishment for years.

“The harsh images of our friends who were driven away from here, dragged along the ground by police and soldiers, simply because they wanted this place to remain under Israeli control will never leave us,” Dagan said.

“There is not a single person in the country who still thinks that it was right to evacuate these places,” he said.

Israelis have attempted to resettle Sa-Nur several times over the years, but have repeatedly been evacuated by the government.

The residents of Sa-Nur were forcibly evacuated as part of the 2005 Disengagement Plan, along with the residents of Homesh, Ganim, and Kadim in Samaria, and 21 communities in Gaza known as Gush Katif.