New Settlers Found Ramat Arbel in Galilee, Face Demolition Orders Within Days’
Just one week after ten families established the community of Ramat Arbel in Israel’s Lower Galilee—reviving a decade-old government promise near the Golani Junction—their pioneering step has been met with swift resistance: demolition orders were issued Sunday for the fledgling settlement.
Speaking to Kan 11, resident Bilhah Ehrlich framed the move as a bold act of modern Zionism: “We came here in an act that was truly courageous, pioneering, and Zionist. What our grandparents did before the founding of the state, we had to do again to push things forward.” She emphasized that young Jewish families face dwindling opportunities to settle in the Galilee due to soaring costs and a lack of new development. “We’re telling the Israeli government—enough excuses. It’s time to found new Jewish towns.”
The Nachala movement, which supported the initiative, stated the settlement was intended to “block the Arab takeover with their very bodies.” Echoing the urgency, Orit Shpitz, another founder, decried the lack of new Jewish towns in the region over the past 30 years: “The Galilee is in a catastrophic situation. Arabs are taking over all of the land here.”
When pressed on whether the group had acted outside the law, Ehrlich responded, “Unfortunately, we had no choice. The official process today gives zero chance for founding a Jewish town in the Negev or the Galilee. The committees and planning authorities block every attempt.”
Despite the looming threat of demolition, the families of Ramat Arbel remain defiant, casting their actions as a grassroots challenge to state inertia and a bid to reignite Jewish development in Israel’s north.
