The message those leading the move seek to convey is clear: dismantling the Oslo legacy through renewed settlement. Specifically in Jericho, which became a symbol of withdrawal and concession, they seek to open a chapter of return and building. Alongside the Hasmonean Palaces, which suffered destruction and looting, Jewish families are now entering to build their lives.
Nachala movement chairwoman Daniella Weiss stated: "The Nachala movement, operating according to Rav Levinger's settlement approach, set a national goal to renew Jewish life in the major cities. Today we merit the continued realization of this vision and open a new chapter in the history of settlement in the city of Jericho. Today families are working to fulfill the verse 'and the streets of the city shall be filled with boys and girls playing in its streets.'"
For Binyamin Council head and Yesha Council chairman Yisrael Gantz, this is also a personal moment he has waited for since he was a 16-year-old boy. On the night Jericho was evacuated under the Oslo Accords, he was among hundreds of youths who marched to the city in protest of its handover. He left in the last group. Today, with his own son aged 16, he escorts the families' entry.
Gantz stated: "I was 16 when we entered Jericho on the night they evacuated it. Hundreds of youths marched in the darkness to the city, with a feeling that we cannot accept this abandonment. I was in the last group that left, and the image from that moment stayed with me all these years. Today I have a 16-year-old child, and I merit escorting families returning to build a home here. An entire generation has passed since then. The pain of the departure becomes today an act of repair."
The entry into the homes takes place ahead of Shabbos Parshas Chayei Sarah, in which we read about the purchase of the Cave of Machpelah by Avraham Avinu with full payment. The eight homes in Jericho, those leading the move emphasize, were also purchased with full payment.
Gantz added: "Jericho is the gateway of the Jewish people's entry to its land. In the Oslo Accords Israel abandoned it, and we are paying the price of that flight to this day. Today we are beginning to reverse the direction. Dismantling the Oslo Accords in practice, house after house, family after family. For years they trampled our history and tried to convince us we have no right to this place. Against the destruction and looting we place building and life. We purchased with full payment, and we are returning home."
Rav Uziyahu Sharbaf, member of the Nachala movement directorate and chairman of the Harchivi association that redeems homes in Chevron, said: "The deeds of the fathers are a sign for the children. Specifically on Shabbos Parshas Chayei Sarah, in which the first purchase in Eretz Yisrael by Avraham Avinu, father of the nation, is recounted, we merit the continued fulfillment of this great mitzvah of inheriting the land, and this time in the city of Jericho."
