In the 1990s, the low cost of housing attracted young couples, mostly secular, but in 2003, a group of Garin Torani families moved to the town.

Fearing it would become a Haredi stronghold,[8] the secular residents led by Hemi Bar-Or petitioned the Israeli Supreme Court.

[5] In January 2016, the Israeli cabinet approved a 1 billion NIS plan to turn Harish into a city of 50,000 in three years, with the eventual goal of 100,000.

Harish will be expanded to the northeast, with residential areas, a business zone, a hotel, 600 dunams of public parks and gardens, and a special site consolidating all emergency services.

[5] A 60 meter wide main boulevard will be built with an island in the middle lined with bicycle paths, benches, and small cafes.

[13][14] Archaeologists discovered the ruins of a 5,000 year-old city, the largest Early Bronze Age settlement with an area of 160 acres in Ein Esur archaeological site in 2019.