Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council, and Rabbi Elyakim Levanon at the location of the new town of Ebal in Samaria, March 11, 2026. (Samaria Regional Council)
New Israeli town established on Mount Ebal, mentioned in the bible, next to the Palestinian Authority city of Nablus.
By World Israel News Staff
Settlement activists working overnight in Samaria established a new town on a mountain mentioned in the Hebrew Bible.
On Tuesday, prefabricated homes were transported from central Israel on Route 5 to Mount Ebal, one of two mountains next to the Palestinian Authority-administered city of Nablus – known in the Bible as Shechem.
The new town, dubbed Ebal, was founded by the Samaria Regional Council in conjunction with the Amana settlement organization.
Located near the biblical site of Joshua bin Nun’s altar, Ebal was established following a government decision last May authorizing the founding of a new town on Mount Ebal.
The chief rabbi of Samaria, Rabbi Elyakim Levanon, and Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council, took part in a ceremony Wednesday morning inaugurating the new town.
“We are here in the name of the people of Israel across the generations. A community on Mount Ebal is the pinnacle of Zionism,” said Dagan.
Ebal is one of 22 towns across Judea and Samaria that received governmental authorization last May. The decision also permitted the resettlement of two towns evacuated during the 2005 Gaza Disengagement Plan: Homesh and Sa-Nur.
On Tuesday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz condemned Israel’s settlement plans, calling efforts to expand Israel’s presence in Judea and Samaria a “big mistake.”
New Israeli towns in Judea and Samaria will “complicate the two-state solution,” Merz lamented, calling on Israel to nix further planned expansions.
In particular, Merz objected to the Israeli government’s decision to move forward with the long-delayed E1 project, linking Jerusalem to the city of Ma’ale Adumim to the east.
Israel plans to build some 3,400 homes in E1, a move that will make it difficult to establish territorial continuity between Judea and Samaria if a Palestinian state is ever established.
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