Becoming Israel’s Tuscany: Gov’t launches ‘Biblical Trail’ initiative to promote West Bank tourism

The cornerstone of Eilon Moreh’s new “Joshua Trail” was laid on Wednesday, marking the first stage of the Tourism Ministry’s new Biblical Trails in Judea and Samaria initiative to develop tourism in the West Bank.

It will combine the area’s landscape and scenery with sites connected to its historical and biblical heritage.

The NIS 3.2 million tourism project will include an accessible promenade and suspension bridge connecting the Eilon Moreh Heritage Center with the summit of the Mount Kabir Nature Reserve. In Genesis, the area of Eilon Moreh is the place where Abraham receives the promise from God that his descendants would be given the Land of Israel.

Tourism Minister Haim Katz was joined by Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, Samaria Regional Council Head Yossi Dagan, and Tourism Ministry director-general Michael Izhakov for the trail’s cornerstone-laying ceremony.

Judea and Samaria Regional Cluster Director-General Keren Gefen, Eilon Moreh Heritage Center Director Shira Simchi, and Samaria Tourism Director Lilian Zitman also attended the ceremony, as well as Beni Katzover, one of the leaders of the original Eilon Moreh nucleus (garin).

Making West Bank accessible

The project is being jointly carried out by the Tourism and Heriage Ministries, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA), the Samaria Regional Council, the Judea and Samaria Regional Cluster and the Elon Moreh Heritage Center.

“In Samaria, the story is found on the ground, in the places where the events that shaped our history took place,” Katz said. “Developing tourism is part of building the country. Every trail we develop and every site we make accessible connects more people to the area, strengthens settlement and generates growth.”

“Samaria can and should become Israel’s Tuscany. It has landscapes, vineyards, wineries, history and heritage that cannot be found anywhere else.”

Dagan praised the establishment of the trail as another “moving step in building the country.”

“This place, where the forefathers of the nation walked, will now become accessible and welcoming to large numbers of visitors from across Israel,” stated Dagan. “Our response to every challenge is to continue building and continue developing tourism in the heart of the land of the Bible."

He thanked Katz, Eliyahu, and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich for their partnership and commitment to the region.

Gov't allocates funding to develop heritage sites, hotels in West Bank

The move comes as part of a wider trend of governmental moves to promote tourism and preserve heritage sites in the West Bank.

In August, the steering committee approved the allocation of NIS 113 million to develop over 70 heritage sites across the West Bank as part of an initiative proposed by Smotrich.

The funding is set to advance several projects meant to strengthen tourism in the region, including the preservation of heritage sites, making them accessible to the public, rescue excavations, and the development of infrastructure.

Earlier, in July, the government approved the allocation of approximately NIS 27 million to develop and construct hotels in the West Bank to promote tourism in the area and transform the region from a “day-trip destination” into a destination for overnight stays.

As part of the decision, the ministry is expected to promote statutory planning for hotel development. It will also take steps to enable the realization of development rights and the marketing of land plots, based on a mapping study that the Tourism Ministry said it will conduct.

To do this, the government is expected to allocate NIS 7m. from the Tourism Ministry’s ongoing budget to be distributed equally between 2026 and 2030.