A group of roughly 100 Jews returned to the site of the Sa-Nur village that had been destroyed in northern Samaria during the 2005 Disengagement.
The destruction of the village was implemented as part of the larger Disengagement policy by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (Likud) in summer 2005 under heavy pressure from United States President George W. Bush.
The policy saw Israel surrender the Gaza region and demolish all 21 of its Jewish villages.
In addition, Bush demanded that Sharon destroy four Jewish communities in northern Samaria in order to make clear Washington’s expectation that Israel ultimately surrender the West Bank.
The four communities – Sa-Nur, Ḥomesh, Ganim and Kadim – were razed and declared legally off limits to Israeli citizens, despite the area remaining under full Israeli control.
The former residents who returned this week, together with their supporters, announced plans to rebuild their village. The group spent Monday night at the site, and began working to create conditions for community life to resume in Sa-Nur.
The group, which consisted of roughly 20 families, along with young couples and students, was visited by several lawmakers before descending from the closed military zone Tuesday evening after a standoff with security forces.
The decision to ultimately leave Sa-Nur came after receiving commitments from Knesset Coalition Chairman Miki Zohar (Likud) that he would bring Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s attention to their struggle and work on the group’s behalf within parliament.
While under normal circumstances, Netanyahu might intentionally ignore such an initiative, especially given the current atmosphere of uncertainty stemming from recent US elections, the likelihood of a looming Israeli national election also means the prime minister will likely be more sensitive to the feelings of his Likud party’s nationalist base, and might therefore throw support behind a return to the demolished villages of northern Samaria – especially if those seeking to finally rebuild their community show sufficient resolve.
The time may not be right for Israel to return to Gaza and rebuild Gush Katif. For that, the Jews most deeply committed to Eretz Yisrael will need to undergo a paradigm shift when it comes to Palestinian issues. But a real opportunity might currently exist to begin a slow process of reversing the Disengagement policy and restoring at least some of what Israel lost in 2005.
