Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced today (Sunday) at the cabinet meeting the establishment of five new communities along the Be’er Sheva–Dimona corridor, adding: “I have decided that one of the communities in the Negev will be named ‘Renanim,’ after the Israeli hero, the late Ran Guaily, the last hostage.”

Ministers Orit Strook and Haim Katz explained that the decision was made as part of the government’s policy to regulate Bedouin settlement in the Negev, expand the housing supply, and prepare for the region’s accelerated development, including in light of the relocation of IDF bases to the Negev.

It was also decided that the Ministry of Settlement Affairs, through the Settlement Division, will work to identify and form population nuclei for the new communities, including the establishment of five temporary neighborhoods to facilitate community formation. For this purpose, NIS 85 million will be allocated from the ministry’s budget in 2025.