West Bank Settlement Kindergartens Reopen After 21 Years

Kindergartens opened Sunday morning in the Samaria settlements of Ganim and Kadim, marking the first time educational institutions have operated there since the communities were evacuated 21 years ago. Education Minister Yoav Kisch and Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan attended the inauguration ceremony for the facilities, which will serve more than 40 children.

The kindergartens opened weeks after dozens of families returned to Ganim and Kadim to re-establish the settlements. Parents, families, Education Ministry representatives, and regional council officials gathered at the sites ahead of the new school year.

Ganim and Kadim were among four Samarian settlements evacuated in August 2005 as part of Israel's disengagement plan, which is primarily remembered for the withdrawal from Gaza. Last summer, families began returning to the sites as part of an effort to rebuild the communities.

According to the regional council, the re-establishment of Ganim and Kadim follows a 21-year campaign to overturn disengagement legislation and return to the northern Samaria area. The two settlements are part of what organizers call the "Reconnection Plan," led by Dagan together with the Amana settlement movement, which envisions establishing 19 communities in the northern Samaria region.

Speaking at the ceremony, he said there was nothing more moving than seeing children begin the school year in new kindergartens where homes were once demolished and families uprooted. He called it "the true Zionist response to expulsion," adding that residents had returned to Ganim and Kadim "to build, to grow, and to remain forever."

Dagan pledged to establish large communities with schools and educational institutions in the area, saying the answer to uprooting is "children, education, and life."

Education Minister Kisch described the return to northern Samaria as a national mission in which the education system is proud to participate. He characterized the kindergarten inaugurations as far more than the opening of educational facilities, calling them a symbol of renewed Jewish settlement in the area and the correction of a historical injustice.

Kisch also referenced the restoration of educational services to other previously evacuated settlements, noting that after returning the education system to Homesh and Sa-Nur, the effort now continues in Ganim and Kadim. He emphasized that where Jewish families were once uprooted, Israelis are now returning to build, educate, and raise the next generation.

Hodaya Haniya, a kindergarten teacher in Kadim, described the opening as a moment of great gratitude to G-d and excitement that is difficult to express in words. She said witnessing a kindergarten open in a settlement being rebuilt after years of anticipation was deeply meaningful.

Moriah Maslati, a mother of five whose son Yehuda began the school year in Ganim, said the families feel they are making history by restoring life to Ganim after 21 years without residents or children playing in the streets. She described the moment as very moving and joyful.