Shomron Regional Council

The Shomron Regional Council ( _he. מועצה אזורית שומרון) is a regional council in the northern Samarian hills, also known as the northern part of the northern half of the West Bank. The offices of the regional council are located in the Barkan Industrial Park. This regional council provides various municipal services for the 30 Israeli settlements within its territory, with a population of about 20,000 people.

The largest community in the Shomron Regional Council today is Sharei Tikva, numbering more than 1000 families, and the youngest is Nofei Nechemia, numbering 12 families.

The municipal area of the Council spreads across 2,800 square kilometers (about 10% of the area of the State of Israel). According to its municipal area, the Shomron Regional Council is among the largest authorities in Israel.

In November 2007, Gershon Mesika was elected the Head of the Shomron Regional Council. The previous head, Benzi Lieberman stepped down from the position, as well as from being the head of the Yesha Council. [cite web|title=Mesika Sweeps Shomron Election|publisher=Arutz 7|date=2007-11-28|url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/137274|accessdate=2007-11-28]

Geography

The municipal boundaries:
*North: the (former) communities of Ganim and Kadim, reaching to Megiddo Junction.
*West: the community of Tzofim, reaching to Kfar Saba.
*South: communities of Peduel and Alei Zahav, reaching to Ben Gurion International Airport.
*East: the community of Migdalim, situated on the border of the Jordan Valley.

The Council is divided into geographic regions, where each region has its own characteristics:http://www.shomron.org.il/Index.asp?ArticleID=938&CategoryID=53&Page=1מועצה איזורית שומרון]
*The Northern Shomron region: Ganim, Kadim, Hinanit, Homesh, Hermesh, Tal Menashe, Mevo Dotan, Reihan, Sanur, Shaked. All the communities are secular, except for Tal Menashe. Population is around 2,000.
*Central-Western Shomron: Avnei Hefetz, Barkan, Ma'ale Shomron, Nofim, Sal'it, Einav, Etz Efraim, Peduel, Tzufim, Kiryat Netafim, Revava, Shavei Shomron, Sha'arei Tikva: mixed population (secular and religious). Most of the communities are large and well established. If you add to them the Local Authorities in Samaria (Alfei Menashe, Elkana, Immanuel, Karnei Shomron, Kedumim, Oranit; and the city of Ariel), all of which are located in this region, the Jewish population numbers about 60,000.
*Mountain Communities: Elon Moreh, Itamar, Har Brakha, Yitzhar (one block, near Nablus, population about 3,000), and farther south, Kfar Tapuach, Rechalim, Nofei Nehemia and Migdalim, with less than 1000 residents.

The West Bank Barrier is planned to enclose on the Israeli side all of the Central-Western Shomron settlements except for the three northernmost, Avnei Hefetz, Einav, and Shavei Shomron, and four Northern Shomron settlements (all the remaining ones other than the two southernmost, Hermesh and Mevo Dotan), but not any of the Mountain Communities.

List of settlements

* Alei Zahav
* Avnei Hefetz
* Barkan
* Bruchin
* Einav
* Elon Moreh
* Etz Efraim
* Har Bracha
* Hermesh
* Hinanit
* Itamar
* Kfar Tapuach
* Kiryat Netafim
* Ma'ale Shomron
* Mevo Dotan
* Migdalim
* Nofei Nehemiah
* Nofim
* Peduel
* Rachelim
* Reihan
* Revava
* Sha'arei Tikva
* Shaked
* Shavei Shomron
* Sal'it
* Tel Menashe
* Tzofim
* Yakir
* Yitzhar

List of raised settlements

During the implementation of Israel's unilateral disengagement plan of August/September 2005, the residents of four of the Shomron Regional Council's settlements were evicted, their residential buildings destroyed, and land abandoned to the Palestinians, including territory outlined in the Oslo Accords as Area 'C' in full Israeli control. The Shomron Regional Council had been the largest Israeli regional council until the fall of 2005 when a large part of its municipal land was effectively abandoned.

From summer 2007 and onward members of the Homesh First group have returned to the site of the raised town to guard and study Torah on a regular basis. Their objective is to resettle the town and set an example for banished resedents of the other Jewish towns of northern Shomron and Gush Katif.

References

External links

* [http://www.shomron.org.il/Index.asp?CategoryID=53 Council website]