For the first time since the late 1990s, a new local council will be established in Judea and Samaria after GOC Central Command Maj. Gen. Yehuda Fuchs on Monday signed a decree to unify the communities of Etz Efraim and Sha'arei Tikva under one official umbrella. The move was supported and approved by Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked and Defense Minister Benny Gantz.
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Yossi Dagan, the head of the Samaria Regional Council, also welcomed the move. The last local council to be established in Judea and Samaria was Beit El, 24 years ago. Until now, Etz Efraim and Sha'arei Tikva had belonged to the Samaria Regional Council.
An official in the Samaria Regional Council said that history has shown that unifying councils significantly contribute to urban growth and development, similar to the case in Ariel.
As, a reminder, Ariel was once a community in the Samaria Regional Council, grew, and became a city that is now even home to a national university.
Dagan had been working for the past seven years on the move to unify Etz Efraim and Sha'arei Tikva.
"This initiative will strategically and significantly strengthen the entire settler enterprise in Samaria, and provide a municipal response in the form of a better quality of life and far greater investments on behalf of the residents in Samaria," Dagan said.
"The path to one million Jews [living] in Samaria is more large communities, which will become urban centers and attract masses of people. History has shown that unifying councils under one local council in Judea and Samaria contributes to growth and prosperity," he added.
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