A kindergarten opened in the Homesh settlement on Monday at the start of the school year for the first time in 20 years.
This is the first kindergarten to be opened in one of the former settlements evacuated during the 2005 Disengagement, during which thousands of Jewish Israelis were forcibly evicted from their homes in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
This opening is part of a renewed push to rebuild the communities and expand the Israeli settlement network in northern Samaria.
Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan vowed to rebuild the other settlements that were destroyed in the Disengagement and establish several more settlements in the area. “We will also open new kindergartens in Gush Katif,” he said, referring to the settlement in Gaza forcibly dismantled during the Disengagement.
“The Disengagement is dead. The people of Israel live!” Dagan said at the kindergarten’s opening ceremony.
“We are now in a moment of sweet victory for Zionism and the people of Israel. Justice always comes, even if it takes 20 years.”
“This is a historic moment,” the council head said, addressing the children of the new kindergarten. “One day, you will be adults, and you can tell your children and grandchildren that you opened the first kindergarten in Homesh. And thanks to this, there will be many more kindergartens in all the displaced communities.”
Education Minister Yoav Kisch praised the opening as being “a Zionist act of building and settlement.”
“I salute the pioneer settlers who are strengthening sovereignty in the area. The Education Ministry, under my leadership, will provide education to every Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel.”
The event was also heralded by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
“The opening of the new kindergarten is not only an educational event but a symbol of revival and renewed life in the heart of Samaria,” he said. “The children who start their day here with laughter and singing are the true response to anyone who thought that the settlement would be uprooted. With God’s help, we will continue to build, expand, and deepen our roots in all parts of our homeland.”
Also in attendance was Ayala Levy, the last kindergarten teacher in Homesh prior to the Disengagement.
“This is a very moving moment,” she said. “I never dreamed that one day I would return to a Homesh kindergarten.”
The settlement’s new kindergarten teacher, Atara, was grateful for the opening of the new kindergarten.
“Thank you to everyone,” she said. “The kindergarten will be the most beautiful and sweetest place in the world.”
“Twenty years ago, we were expelled from here, and we also carry with us 20 years of struggle to return,” Homesh families and deportees’ representative Benny Gal said at the ceremony. “The core of Homesh’s settlers tried to return just one day after the expulsion, and they kept trying to come back countless times. We are now privileged to see salvation, the fulfillment of a prophecy, with our own eyes.”
A history of Homesh: A settlement demolished and now attempting to rebuild
Homesh is a settlement in northern Samaria in the West Bank that was forcibly evacuated in 2005 during the Disengagement, with all homes and structures demolished.
The site of Homesh has been recognized by Israel as being legally owned by Palestinians, though the owners have not been allowed to return to their land.
Attempts have repeatedly been made to establish illegal outposts and a yeshiva in the area, all of which have been met with repeated opposition by the IDF.
While the Homesh settlement has not been formally reestablished, the government did revoke the Disengagement in March 2023. In addition, a May 2025 decision allowed for renewed settlement activity in northern Samaria, including in Homesh, which has helped spark renewed efforts to rebuild the town.
According to Ynet, 20 families currently live in Homesh, with 50 students registered at the Homesh Yeshiva. The new kindergarten has around 20 children enrolled.