Shekhanya is a communal settlement

Communal settlement (Israel)

A community settlement is a type of town in Israel. While in an ordinary town anyone may buy property, in a community settlement the town's residents, who are organized in a cooperative, can veto a sale of a house or a business to an undesirable buyer....

 in northern Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

. It is named after a priest family from the Bible (2 Chronicles 24:11). Located in the Galilee

Galilee

Galilee , is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country. Traditionally divided into Upper Galilee , Lower Galilee , and Western Galilee , extending from Dan to the north, at the base of Mount Hermon, along Mount Lebanon to the...

 between Karmiel

Karmiel

Karmiel is a city in northern Israel. Established in 1964 as a development town, Karmiel is located in the Beit HaKerem Valley which divides upper and lower Galilee. The city is located south of the Acre-Safed road, from Safed and from Acre...

 and Shefa-'Amr

Shefa-'Amr

Shefa-'Amr, also Shfar'am is a predominantly Arab city in the North District of Israel. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics , at the end of 2009 the city had a population of 35,300.-Etymology:...

, it falls under the jurisdiction of Misgav Regional Council

Misgav Regional Council

The Misgav Regional Council is a regional council in the Galilee region in northern Israel. The regional council is home to 22,000 people, and comprises 35 small towns, mostly community settlements but also several Kibbutzim and Moshavim. The population of 29 of these is primarily Jewish, and 6...

. In 2006 it had a population of 584.

The village was established in 1980 as part of the Lookouts in the Galilee plan to increase Jewish settlement in the area. The community had been formed in 1978.