History

In 1978, with the approval and support of the Israeli government, 40 families, led by Ron Nachman, took up residence on top of a rocky and barren hill that would become the City of Ariel.

 
Living conditions were difficult, but these modern day pioneers understood the need to establish a Jewish presence in this strategic area.
After the six day war, Moshe Dayan, then the Minister of Defense, said the country needed young Israelis to be more involved in two areas: settlement – which was viewed as the true expression of Zionism – and security.

This call was answered by a number of employees of Israel Military Industries led by Josef Bar-Ilan together with Ron Nachman, Gyora Shacahr and David Hasman .Since they were already very involved in security positions they wanted to take up the challenge of settlement and in started to bring together a core group of people who would found the new community.

1972 Ron Nachman together with two other co-workers established a non-profit organization

With the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War in 1973 everything stopped when one of the founding members Gyora Shacar was killed. The plan was put on hold until 1976. By then, Yitzhak Rabin was Prime Minister and Shimon Peres was Minister of Defense. The request for land to settle was renewed and they were able to show that approval had already been received from Moshe Dayan in 1972. At that time, the labor government policy supported new settlement. They focused primarily on the Jordan Valley, the Golan Heights and Sinai, but they also supported the Plan for Ariel as long as it was developed with government approval. They asked the government to choose a location for them to settle because they insisted that the town be established legally, and through a government decision. The government would provide the land and the pioneers would supply the motivation and manpower.  In the beginning of 1977 the government committee for settlement made the decision to purchase the first 1,000 Square kilometers from the village of Haris. This was an official national government step to create what is now the city of Ariel.

Ariel was planned to be a city not a small settlement. Therefore, the matter of land was a key issue in the construction of the city. The location chosen was a barren hill top named in Arabic "mountain of death" as it could not be used for agricultural purposes and there fro had never been populated.  This public land, state property and what was previously considered a barren mountain incapable of growth and development, would serve as the home of a thriving Jewish city.

in 1977 with the change of governments Ariel Sharon, Minister of Agriculture and head of committee of settlements became a strong advocate of Ariel and envisioned a strategically vital city halfway between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, overlooking – and thereby protecting – the coast of Israel, and on the 17Th of August 1978 the first 40 pioneering families arrived at "the mount of Death" and become the first settlement on this mountain for hundreds of years.