JNS/June 10, 2025
In recognition of 20 years since the Gaza pullout, JNS is featuring a series of articles reflecting Israel’s disengagement, speaking with an array of former Gush Katif residents to find out how they perceive the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the Trump plan for the Gaza Strip and the prospect of returning.
Sitting in his backyard in the crisp nighttime air at Mount Hebron, overlooking the holy city of Hebron, Meir Dana-Picard, 45, feels at home.
After his army service, he studied at a yeshivah in Kiryat Arba, the Jewish town bordering Hebron. Then he got married to Adi, and they eventually had a dozen children. Eleven of them still live at home; his eldest, 22, lives in a caravan nearby with her husband. During the video interview (conducted in Hebrew), his youngest, 3-year-old Shalem, kept jumping on the sofa next to him, resisting sleep.
There’s no place like Kfar Darom
Twelve years ago, Dana-Picard founded the Board of Residents in Mount Hebron to advocate for Jewish security in the region. Still, as much as he believes that his home near the Cave of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs (Ma’arat Hamachpelah) represents the fulfillment of an ancient Jewish dream—and destiny—there’s no place like Kfar Darom. For him, the former Gush Katif village, which Israel gave up in 2005, is a sandy extension of Hebron, in body and spirit, although not one Jewish family lives there today.
“It was love at first sight,” Dana-Picard told JNS, recalling his first visit to what was then a farming community of about 65 families.
Read the rest in JNS.
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