Gush Etzion
Encyclopedia
Israeli settlement
An Israeli settlement is a Jewish civilian community built on land that was captured by Israel from Jordan, Egypt, and Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War and is considered occupied territory by the international community. Such settlements currently exist in the West Bank...
s located in the Judaean Mountains directly south of Jerusalem and Bethlehem
Bethlehem
Bethlehem is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank of the Jordan River, near Israel and approximately south of Jerusalem, with a population of about 30,000 people. It is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate of the Palestinian National Authority and a hub of Palestinian culture and tourism...
in the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
, Palestinian territories
Palestinian territories
The Palestinian territories comprise the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Since the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988, the region is today recognized by three-quarters of the world's countries as the State of Palestine or simply Palestine, although this status is not recognized by the...
. The core group includes four agricultural villages that were founded in 1940-1947 on property purchased in the 1920s and 1930s, and destroyed before the outbreak of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
1948 Arab-Israeli War
The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, known to Israelis as the War of Independence or War of Liberation The war commenced after the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the creation of an independent Israel at midnight on 14 May 1948 when, following a period of civil war, Arab armies invaded...
. The area was left outside the 1949 armistice lines
Green Line (Israel)
Green Line refers to the demarcation lines set out in the 1949 Armistice Agreements between Israel and its neighbours after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War...
. These settlements were rebuilt after the 1967 Six-Day War
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...
, along with new communities that have expanded the area of the Etzion Bloc. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
illegal under international law
International law and Israeli settlements
The international community considers the establishment of Israeli settlements in the Israeli-occupied territories illegal under international law, but Israel maintains that they are consistent with international law because it does not agree that the Fourth Geneva Convention applies to the...
, but the Israeli government disputes this. In 2011, Gush Etzion consists of 22 settlements with a population of 70,000.
History
The core settlements of Gush Etzion before 1948 were Kfar EtzionKfar Etzion
Kfar Etzion is a religious Israeli settlement and kibbutz located in the Judean Hills between Jerusalem and Hebron in the southern West Bank. It has a population of 400 and falls under the jurisdiction of Gush Etzion Regional Council...
, Massu'ot Yitzhak, Ein Tzurim
Ein Tzurim
Ein Tzurim is a religious kibbutz in southern Israel. Located south of Kiryat Malakhi, it falls under the jurisdiction of Shafir Regional Council, and is a member of the Religious Kibbutz Movement. In 2007 it had a population of 1,100.-Original kibbutz:...
and Revadim
Revadim
Revadim is a kibbutz in Israel on the southern coastal plain. It is under the administration of the Yoav Regional Council and affiliated with the Hashomer Hatza'ir movement.-History:...
, built on tracts of land purchased from the early 1920s. From November 29, 1947, Kfar Etzion was under siege and cut off from Jerusalem. On May 13, 1948, when the village surrendered, 127 inhabitants were massacred by the Arab Legion
Arab Legion
The Arab Legion was the regular army of Transjordan and then Jordan in the early part of the 20th century.-Creation:...
. The other villages surrendered the next day. The inhabitants were taken prisoner and the homes were plundered and burned.
The establishment, defense and fall of Gush Etzion has been described as "one of the major episodes of the State of Israel-in-the-making," playing a significant role in Israeli collective memory. The motivation for resettling the region is not so much ideological, political or security-related as symbolic, linked in the Israeli psyche to the massive loss of life in the Israeli War of Independence.
Pre-state settlements
In 1927, a group of religious Yemenite JewsYemenite Jews
Yemenite Jews are those Jews who live, or whose recent ancestors lived, in Yemen . Between June 1949 and September 1950, the overwhelming majority of Yemen's Jewish population was transported to Israel in Operation Magic Carpet...
founded an agricultural village they named Migdal Eder , based on a biblical quotation . The land had been purchased in 1925 by Zikhron David, a private Jewish land holding company at a site between Bethlehem
Bethlehem
Bethlehem is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank of the Jordan River, near Israel and approximately south of Jerusalem, with a population of about 30,000 people. It is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate of the Palestinian National Authority and a hub of Palestinian culture and tourism...
and Hebron
Hebron
Hebron , is located in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judean Mountains, it lies 930 meters above sea level. It is the largest city in the West Bank and home to around 165,000 Palestinians, and over 500 Jewish settlers concentrated in and around the old quarter...
that fell between the zones of influence of the local Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
clans. This early community did not flourish, mainly due to economic hardships and escalating tension with neighboring Arab communities. Two years later, the 1929 Palestine riots
1929 Palestine riots
The 1929 Palestine riots, also known as the Western Wall Uprising, the 1929 Massacres, , or the Buraq Uprising , refers to a series of demonstrations and riots in late August 1929 when a long-running dispute between Muslims and Jews over access to the Western Wall in Jerusalem escalated into violence...
and recurring hostilities forced the group to flee. The inhabitants of Migdal Eder were saved by the villagers of the neighboring Arab village of Beit Umar but were not able to return to the land they left behind.In course of the 1929 Palestine riots
1929 Palestine riots
The 1929 Palestine riots, also known as the Western Wall Uprising, the 1929 Massacres, , or the Buraq Uprising , refers to a series of demonstrations and riots in late August 1929 when a long-running dispute between Muslims and Jews over access to the Western Wall in Jerusalem escalated into violence...
, Migdal Eder was attacked and destroyed. Residents of the neighboring Arab village of Beit Umar sheltered the farmers, but they could not return to their land.
In 1932, a Jewish businessman Shmuel Yosef Holtzmann, provided financial backing for another attempt at settling the area, through a company named El HaHar ("To the Mountain"). The kibbutz established there in 1935 was named Kfar Etzion
Kfar Etzion
Kfar Etzion is a religious Israeli settlement and kibbutz located in the Judean Hills between Jerusalem and Hebron in the southern West Bank. It has a population of 400 and falls under the jurisdiction of Gush Etzion Regional Council...
, in his honor (the German word holtz means “wood”, which is etz עץ in Hebrew). The 1936–1939 Arab revolt made life intolerable for the residents, who returned to Jerusalem in 1937. The Jewish National Fund
Jewish National Fund
The Jewish National Fund was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman Palestine for Jewish settlement. The JNF is a quasi-governmental, non-profit organisation...
organized a third attempt at settlement in 1943 with the refounding of Kfar Etzion by members of a religious group called Kvutzat Avraham. Despite the rocky soil, shortage of potable water, harsh winters, and constant threat of attack, this group managed to succeed.
Their isolation was somewhat relieved by the establishment in 1945 of Masu'ot Yitzhak
Masu'ot Yitzhak
Masu'ot Yitzhak is a moshav shitufi in southern Israel. It is located near Ashkelon, within the municipal jurisdiction of the Shafir Regional Council. The original kibbutz in Gush Etzion was destroyed and depopulated in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. A new settlement was established in 1949 in a...
and Ein Tzurim
Ein Tzurim
Ein Tzurim is a religious kibbutz in southern Israel. Located south of Kiryat Malakhi, it falls under the jurisdiction of Shafir Regional Council, and is a member of the Religious Kibbutz Movement. In 2007 it had a population of 1,100.-Original kibbutz:...
, populated by members of the religious Bnei Akiva
Bnei Akiva
Bnei Akiva is the largest religious Zionist youth movement in the world, with over 125,000 members in 37 countries. It was established in Mandate Palestine in 1929.-History:...
movement and Religious Kibbutz Movement
Religious Kibbutz Movement
The Religious Kibbutz Movement is an organizational framework for Orthodox kibbutzim in Israel. Its membership includes 19 communities, 16 of them traditional kibbutzim, and two others in the category of moshav shitufi , meaning that they have no communal dining hall or children's house but...
. Against the backdrop of an impending struggle for Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i independence, the secular Hashomer Hatzair
Hashomer Hatzair
Hashomer Hatzair is a Socialist–Zionist youth movement founded in 1913 in Galicia, Austria-Hungary, and was also the name of the group's political party in the Yishuv in the pre-1948 British Mandate of Palestine...
movement founded a fourth kibbutz, Revadim
Revadim
Revadim is a kibbutz in Israel on the southern coastal plain. It is under the administration of the Yoav Regional Council and affiliated with the Hashomer Hatza'ir movement.-History:...
. A religious center, Neve Ovadia, was also founded by the bloc's members. By the start of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
1948 Arab-Israeli War
The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, known to Israelis as the War of Independence or War of Liberation The war commenced after the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the creation of an independent Israel at midnight on 14 May 1948 when, following a period of civil war, Arab armies invaded...
, the Etzion bloc numbered 450 residents and stretched over an area of 20000 dunams (20 km²).
Civil war and Arab-Israeli War
1947 UN Partition Plan
The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine was created by the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine in 1947 to replace the British Mandate for Palestine with "Independent Arab and Jewish States" and a "Special International Regime for the City of Jerusalem" administered by the United...
. The bloc fell within the area allotted to a proposed Arab state. The Haganah
Haganah
Haganah was a Jewish paramilitary organization in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine from 1920 to 1948, which later became the core of the Israel Defense Forces.- Origins :...
command decided not to evacuate the bloc. Arab hostilities began almost immediately, and travel to Jerusalem became exceedingly difficult. For five months the bloc was besieged, first by Arab irregulars
Irregular military
Irregular military refers to any non-standard military. Being defined by exclusion, there is significant variance in what comes under the term. It can refer to the type of military organization, or to the type of tactics used....
, and then by the Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
ian Arab Legion
Arab Legion
The Arab Legion was the regular army of Transjordan and then Jordan in the early part of the 20th century.-Creation:...
. Throughout the winter hostilities intensified and several relief convoys from the Haganah in Jerusalem were destroyed
Gush Etzion Convoy
From November 1947 the roads to the four kibbutzim of Gush Etzion , south of Jerusalem were blockaded by militias from neighbouring villages. The Haganah used a strategy of armed convoys to get supplies to the outposts. The initial convoys to the bloc used open pickup trucks , since the British...
in ambushes. For 47 days the armed conflict was intense. In January, the women and children were evacuated with British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
assistance. An emergency reinforcement convoy
Convoy of 35
The Convoy of 35 refers to 35 soldiers of the Haganah who were killed while attempting to resupply and or reinforce the Gush Etzion kibbutzim by foot on January 16, 1948, after a number of convoys had been attacked during the early stages of the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine.- Attack...
attempting to march to Gush Etzion under cover of darkness were discovered and killed. Despite some resupply flights by Piper Cubs
Piper J-3
The Piper J-3 Cub is a small, simple, light aircraft that was built between 1937 and 1947 by Piper Aircraft. With tandem seating, it was intended for flight training but became one of the most popular and best-known light aircraft of all time...
out of Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
onto an improvised airfield, adequate supplies were not getting in.
On March 27, land communication with the Yishuv
Yishuv
The Yishuv or Ha-Yishuv is the term referring to the body of Jewish residents in Palestine before the establishment of the State of Israel...
was severed completely when the Neve Daniel Convoy
Gush Etzion Convoy
From November 1947 the roads to the four kibbutzim of Gush Etzion , south of Jerusalem were blockaded by militias from neighbouring villages. The Haganah used a strategy of armed convoys to get supplies to the outposts. The initial convoys to the bloc used open pickup trucks , since the British...
was forced to retreat back to Jerusalem. In the following months, Arab irregular forces continued small-scale attacks against the bloc, which the Haganah was able to effectively withstand. At times, the Haganah forces, commanded by Uzi Narkiss
Uzi Narkiss
Uzi Narkiss was an Israeli general. Narkiss was commander of the Israel Defense Forces units in the Central Region during the Six Day War...
, ambushed Arab military convoys, (and, according to Morris also Arab civilian traffic and British military convoys) on the road between Jerusalem and Hebron. The defenders of Gush Etzion and the central command in Jerusalem mulled evacuation, but although they had very few arms, a decision was made to hold out due to their strategic location as the only Jewish-held position on Jerusalem's southern approach from Hebron
Highway 60 (Israel)
Highway 60 is a north-south intercity road in Israel and the West Bank that stretches from Beersheba to Nazareth.-Route:The route is also known as the "Route of the Patriarchs" since it follows the path of the ancient highway that runs along the length of the central watershed, and which...
.
On May 12, the commander of Kfar Etzion requested from the Central Command in Jerusalem a permission to evacuate the kibbutz, but was told to stay. Later in the day, the Arabs captured the Russian Orthodox
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
, which the Haganah used as a perimeter fortress for the Kfar Etzion area, killing twenty-four of its thirty-two defenders. On May 13, a massive attack involving parts of two Arab Legion infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
companies
Company (military unit)
A company is a military unit, typically consisting of 80–225 soldiers and usually commanded by a Captain, Major or Commandant. Most companies are formed of three to five platoons although the exact number may vary by country, unit type, and structure...
, light artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
and local irregular support commenced from four directions. The kibbutz fell within a day, and the Arab forces massacred the entire population of Kfar Etzion
Kfar Etzion massacre
The Kfar Etzion massacre was an act committed by Arab armed forces on May 13, 1948, the day before the Declaration of Independence of the state of Israel.-Background:...
, soldiers and civilians alike, the total number of killed during the final assault, following massacre and suicide was between 75 to 250. Only three men and one woman survived. The following day, the three other kibbutzim surrendered, on the day of the declaration of independence
Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel
The Israeli Declaration of Independence , made on 14 May 1948 , the day before the British Mandate was due to expire, was the announcement by David Ben-Gurion, the Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization and chairman of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, that the new Jewish state named the...
. The prisoners were taken as POWs by the Arab Legion and held in Jordan for a year before being released.
Interim period (1949–1967)
Petah Tikva
Petah Tikva known as Em HaMoshavot , is a city in the Center District of Israel, east of Tel Aviv.According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, at the end of 2009, the city's population stood at 209,600. The population density is approximately...
. Some 135 were eventually resettled in a neighborhood called Jebaliya in southern Jaffa
Jaffa
Jaffa is an ancient port city believed to be one of the oldest in the world. Jaffa was incorporated with Tel Aviv creating the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel. Jaffa is famous for its association with the biblical story of the prophet Jonah.-Etymology:...
, later renamed to Giv'at Aliyah by the residents, who organized it like a kibbutz
Kibbutz
A kibbutz is a collective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economic branches, including industrial plants and high-tech enterprises. Kibbutzim began as utopian communities, a combination of socialism and Zionism...
. Four years after Giv'at Aliyah was founded, the returning POWs of the bloc founded Nir Etzion
Nir Etzion
Nir Etzion is a religious moshav shitufi in northern Israel. Located between Ein Hod and Ein Hawd near Atlit, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hof HaCarmel Regional Council...
in the Mount Carmel area near Haifa
Haifa
Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...
. Nir Etzion sought to accept the bulk of the bloc's children into it, but despite wishing to unite in a new place of residence, the issue of joining Nir Etzion was a matter of debate among the children, many of whom joined the Nahal
Nahal
Nahal is an Israel Defense Forces infantry brigade. Historically, it refers to a program that combines military service and establishment of new agricultural settlements, often in outlying areas...
military unit. The survivors of Masu'ot Yitzhak
Masu'ot Yitzhak
Masu'ot Yitzhak is a moshav shitufi in southern Israel. It is located near Ashkelon, within the municipal jurisdiction of the Shafir Regional Council. The original kibbutz in Gush Etzion was destroyed and depopulated in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. A new settlement was established in 1949 in a...
, Ein Tzurim
Ein Tzurim
Ein Tzurim is a religious kibbutz in southern Israel. Located south of Kiryat Malakhi, it falls under the jurisdiction of Shafir Regional Council, and is a member of the Religious Kibbutz Movement. In 2007 it had a population of 1,100.-Original kibbutz:...
, and Revadim
Revadim
Revadim is a kibbutz in Israel on the southern coastal plain. It is under the administration of the Yoav Regional Council and affiliated with the Hashomer Hatza'ir movement.-History:...
founded their communities anew in Israel proper.
The interim period saw the rise of two movements designed to commemorate the fall of Gush Etzion, through songs, poetry, prose and cultural activities. During the Jordanian rule of the West Bank and East Jerusalem
Rule of the West Bank and East Jerusalem by Jordan
The West Bank and East Jerusalem were occupied by Jordan for a period of nearly two decades starting from the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. In 1950, the British extended formal recognition to the union between the Hashemite Kingdom and of that part of Palestine under Jordanian occupation and control -...
in 1949–1967, all the buildings were destroyed and the thousands of trees planted in Gush Etzion were uprooted, save a very old one known as the "lone oak" or "lone tree". Both the land of the bloc, and the events that transpired there in the war of 1948, became sacred to the descendants of the original participants. Some compared the story of the yearning to return to the bloc to the story of the Jews yearning to return to the Land of Israel
Land of Israel
The Land of Israel is the Biblical name for the territory roughly corresponding to the area encompassed by the Southern Levant, also known as Canaan and Palestine, Promised Land and Holy Land. The belief that the area is a God-given homeland of the Jewish people is based on the narrative of the...
. For 19 years, some survivors would gather on the Israel–Jordan frontier
Green Line (Israel)
Green Line refers to the demarcation lines set out in the 1949 Armistice Agreements between Israel and its neighbours after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War...
and gaze at the tree in remembrance of what was. This was also done after each annual Independence Day ceremony. Poems and stories were written that humanized the lone tree. However, this trend was criticized by the novelist Haim Be'er, who called the bloc's settlement movements a "fervent cult" and compared them to the Canaanites.
Re-establishment
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...
, Israel controlled the area of the former Etzion Bloc. A loose organisation of Bnei Akiva
Bnei Akiva
Bnei Akiva is the largest religious Zionist youth movement in the world, with over 125,000 members in 37 countries. It was established in Mandate Palestine in 1929.-History:...
activists, who later coalesced into Gush Emunim
Gush Emunim
Gush Emunim was an Israeli messianic and political movement committed to establishing Jewish settlements in the West Bank. While not formally established as an organization until 1974 in the wake of the Yom Kippur War, Gush Emunim sprang out of the conquests of the Six-Day War in 1967, encouraging...
, led by Hanan Porat
Hanan Porat
-External links:...
, whose parents had been evacuated, petitioned Israeli Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Israel
The Prime Minister of Israel is the head of the Israeli government and the most powerful political figure in Israel . The prime minister is the country's chief executive. The official residence of the prime minister, Beit Rosh Hamemshala is in Jerusalem...
Levi Eshkol
Levi Eshkol
' served as the third Prime Minister of Israel from 1963 until his death from a heart attack in 1969. He was the first Israeli Prime Minister to die in office.-Biography:...
to allow the reestablishment of Kfar Etzion. Among the supporters were Ra'anan Weitz, head of the settlement department in the Jewish Agency, Minister of Internal Affairs Haim-Moshe Shapira
Haim-Moshe Shapira
Haim-Moshe Shapira was a key Israeli politician in the early days of the state's existence. A signatory of Israel's declaration of independence, he served continuously as a minister from the country's foundation in 1948 until his death in 1970 apart from a brief spell in the late...
, and Michael Hazani of the national religious movement. Supporters of the Allon Plan
Allon Plan
The Allon Plan was an Israeli proposal of the late 1960s to partition the West Bank, captured from Jordan in the Six-Day War of June 1967, between Israel and Jordan...
in the government were also in favor of settling the bloc. This caused Eshkol to finally give a green light to the plan. He was not decisive however, and the settlement movement did not immediately being to build in the entire bloc, but only on the location of Kfar Etzion
Kfar Etzion
Kfar Etzion is a religious Israeli settlement and kibbutz located in the Judean Hills between Jerusalem and Hebron in the southern West Bank. It has a population of 400 and falls under the jurisdiction of Gush Etzion Regional Council...
. Construction began in September 1967. According to Ra'anan Weitz's plan, Kfar Etzion was meant to be one of three settlements in the new bloc, from it to Aviezer
Aviezer
Aviezer is a small religious moshav in central Israel. Located nine kilometres south-west of Beit Shemesh, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 546....
. The middle village would be established on Jewish National Fund
Jewish National Fund
The Jewish National Fund was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman Palestine for Jewish settlement. The JNF is a quasi-governmental, non-profit organisation...
land purchased in the 1940s.
Weitz's plan of creating a line of settlements based on territorial continuity, however, had a number of opponents: the descendants of the original residents of the bloc and the settlers on the ground, the Religious Kibbutz Movement
Religious Kibbutz Movement
The Religious Kibbutz Movement is an organizational framework for Orthodox kibbutzim in Israel. Its membership includes 19 communities, 16 of them traditional kibbutzim, and two others in the category of moshav shitufi , meaning that they have no communal dining hall or children's house but...
, and the Israel Defense Forces
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
. The IDF surveyed the land and stated that "Kfar Etzion B should be founded near the existing Kfar Etzion, and not near the former Green Line". This eventually found the support of Defense Minister Moshe Dayan
Moshe Dayan
Moshe Dayan was an Israeli military leader and politician. The fourth Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces , he became a fighting symbol to the world of the new State of Israel...
, who envisioned five settlement points in the West Bank, one of them being the Etzion bloc. On September 30, 1968, the government gave permission to create a regional center and Hesder Yeshiva
Hesder
Hesder is an Israeli yeshiva program which combines advanced Talmudic studies with military service in the Israel Defense Forces, usually within a Religious Zionist framework...
in Kfar Etzion, a major demand of the settlers and the final departure from the continuity plan.
In the same decision, the government appointed a committee for planning the settlement of the bloc. In accordance with the committee's recommendations, the settlement
Israeli settlement
An Israeli settlement is a Jewish civilian community built on land that was captured by Israel from Jordan, Egypt, and Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War and is considered occupied territory by the international community. Such settlements currently exist in the West Bank...
of Rosh Tzurim
Rosh Tzurim
Rosh Tzurim is a religious Israeli settlement and kibbutz in the West Bank. A member of the Religious Kibbutz Movement, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gush Etzion Regional Council. In 2008 it had a population of around 130 families...
was founded on the former site of Ein Tzurim and Revadim in July 1969, and Alon Shvut
Alon Shvut
Alon Shvut is an Israeli settlement located southwest of Jerusalem, one kilometer northeast of Kfar Etzion, in the West Bank. Established in June 1970 in the heart of the Etzion bloc, Alon Shvut became the prototype for Jewish settlements in the region. It is administered by the Gush Etzion...
in June 1970. Many other settlements and two municipalities (Efrat
Efrat
Efrat , or officially Efrata , is an Israeli settlement established in 1983 and a local council in the Judean Mountains of the West Bank. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this...
and Beitar Illit) have been founded in the area of historic Etzion bloc, and its name was taken for the greater Gush Etzion Regional Council
Gush Etzion Regional Council
The Gush Etzion Regional Council is a regional council in the northern Judean Hills, the northern part of the southern area of the West Bank, administering the settlements in the Gush Etzion region, as well as others nearby...
.
Today there is a museum about the history of Gush Etzion.
Today
The following is a list of communities in modern Gush Etzion.| Name | Founded | Population (EOY 2008) | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alon Shvut Alon Shvut Alon Shvut is an Israeli settlement located southwest of Jerusalem, one kilometer northeast of Kfar Etzion, in the West Bank. Established in June 1970 in the heart of the Etzion bloc, Alon Shvut became the prototype for Jewish settlements in the region. It is administered by the Gush Etzion... |
1970 | 3,400 | Communal settlement |
| Bat Ayin Bat Ayin Bat Ayin is a village and an Israeli settlement and in Gush Etzion, on the edge of the Judean hills in the West Bank, between Jerusalem and Hebron. It is administered by the Gush Etzion Regional Council... |
1989 | 900 | Communal settlement |
| Beitar Illit | 1985 | 38,800 | Independent municipality |
| Efrat Efrat Efrat , or officially Efrata , is an Israeli settlement established in 1983 and a local council in the Judean Mountains of the West Bank. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this... |
1983 | 8,300 | Independent municipality |
| Elazar Elazar, Gush Etzion Elazar is an Israeli settlement in the Judean Hills region of the West Bank, 18 kilometers south of Jerusalem in the Gush Etzion cluster of settlements. A communal settlement, it has around 450 families living there... |
1975 | 1,706 | Communal settlement |
| Karmei Tzur | 1984 | 700 | Communal settlement |
| Kedar | 1984 | 960 | Communal settlement |
| Kfar Eldad Kfar Eldad Kfar Eldad is an Israeli settlement and a Communal settlement in the Gush Etzion Regional Council, south of Jerusalem. The settlement is in the vicinity of Herodion and overlooks the Judean Desert. It is named after Israel Eldad, a Lehi member and Israeli philosopher.The population of the... |
1994 | 120 | Communal settlement |
| Kfar Etzion Kfar Etzion Kfar Etzion is a religious Israeli settlement and kibbutz located in the Judean Hills between Jerusalem and Hebron in the southern West Bank. It has a population of 400 and falls under the jurisdiction of Gush Etzion Regional Council... |
1967 | 820 | Kibbutz Kibbutz A kibbutz is a collective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economic branches, including industrial plants and high-tech enterprises. Kibbutzim began as utopian communities, a combination of socialism and Zionism... |
| Gva'ot | 1984 | 75 | Communal settlement |
| Har Gilo Har Gilo Har Gilo is an Israeli settlement and communal village located about five kilometers south of Jerusalem, and two kilometers west of Bethlehem in the northern Judean hills of the West Bank.... |
1968 | 570 | Communal settlement |
| Ibei HaNahal Ibei HaNahal Ibei HaNahal is a haredi Israeli settlement outpost within the Gush Etzion settlement block in the West Bank. Its residents established it as an ecovillage. The outpost is under the jurisdiction of the Gush Etzion Regional Council... |
1999 | 50 | Outpost |
| Ma'ale Amos Ma'ale Amos Ma'ale Amos is an ultra-Orthodox community and Israeli settlement in the southern West Bank, established in 1982. It is a member of the Gush Etzion Regional Council. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli... |
1982 | 270 | Communal settlement |
| Ma'ale Rehav'am Ma'ale Rehav'am Ma'ale Rehav'am , is an Israeli settlement south of Bethlehem and northeast of Hebron in the West Bank, located in the northeastern Judean Mountains on Road 3698... |
2001 | 40 | Communal settlement |
| Metzad Metzad Metzad , also Asfar, is a Haredi communal settlement and Israeli settlement in the West Bank. It falls under the municipal jurisdiction of the Gush Etzion Regional Council... |
1984 | 380 | Communal settlement |
| Migdal Oz Migdal Oz Stella K. Abraham Beit Midrash for Women, commonly known as Migdal Oz , is an Orthodox Jewish institution of higher Torah study for women located in the Israeli settlement and Kibbutz Migdal Oz in Gush Etzion in the West Bank.-Overview:... |
1977 | 440 | Kibbutz Kibbutz A kibbutz is a collective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economic branches, including industrial plants and high-tech enterprises. Kibbutzim began as utopian communities, a combination of socialism and Zionism... |
| Neve Daniel Neve Daniel Neve Daniel is an Israeli settlement and communal settlement located in western Gush Etzion in the southern West Bank. Located south of Jerusalem and just west of Bethlehem, it sits atop one of the highest points in the area - close to 1,000 meters above sea level, and has a view of much of the... |
1982 | 1,883 | Communal settlement |
| Nokdim Nokdim Nokdim , lit. Shepherds) is a communal settlement and Israeli settlement in the West Bank, located south of Bethlehem in the northern Judean hills... |
1982 | 1300 | Communal settlement |
| Pnei Kedem Pnei Kedem Pnei Kedem , is an Israeli settlement south of Bethlehem in the West Bank located in the eastern Judean Mountains near the Arugot Stream at an elevation of 900 metres above sea level.... |
2000 | 100 | Communal settlement |
| Rosh Tzurim Rosh Tzurim Rosh Tzurim is a religious Israeli settlement and kibbutz in the West Bank. A member of the Religious Kibbutz Movement, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gush Etzion Regional Council. In 2008 it had a population of around 130 families... |
1969 | 560 | Kibbutz Kibbutz A kibbutz is a collective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economic branches, including industrial plants and high-tech enterprises. Kibbutzim began as utopian communities, a combination of socialism and Zionism... |
| Sde Boaz Sde Boaz Sde Boaz is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank. Located on a hill above Neve Daniel, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gush Etzion Regional Council.... |
2002 | 90 | Communal settlement |
| Tekoa, Gush Etzion | 1975 | 1600 | Communal settlement |
Gush Etzion Junction
The entrance to the Gush Etzion bloc is the Gush Etzion JunctionGush Etzion Junction
Gush Etzion Junction ' also known as Gush Junction is a business, commercial and tourism center in the southern West Bank which serves as the entry point to the Gush Etzion bloc of settlements. It is administered by the Gush Etzion Regional Council...
, which is located just west of the intersection of Route 60 and Route 367. The junction is located between Efrat
Efrat
Efrat , or officially Efrata , is an Israeli settlement established in 1983 and a local council in the Judean Mountains of the West Bank. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this...
and Alon Shvut
Alon Shvut
Alon Shvut is an Israeli settlement located southwest of Jerusalem, one kilometer northeast of Kfar Etzion, in the West Bank. Established in June 1970 in the heart of the Etzion bloc, Alon Shvut became the prototype for Jewish settlements in the region. It is administered by the Gush Etzion...
and very close to Migdal Oz
Migdal Oz
Stella K. Abraham Beit Midrash for Women, commonly known as Migdal Oz , is an Orthodox Jewish institution of higher Torah study for women located in the Israeli settlement and Kibbutz Migdal Oz in Gush Etzion in the West Bank.-Overview:...
. It is the site of the Gush Etzion visitors' center, a gas station, an automotive repair shop, a Rami Levi
Rami Levi Hashikma Marketing
Rami Levi Hashikma Marketing is the third largest Israeli retail supermarket chain, behind Shufersal Ltd. and Alon Holding–Blue Square Ltd., with annual revenues of NIS 1.81 billion . Founded in 1976 on Rehov Hashikma in the Mahane Yehuda Market district, Rami Levi was Israel's first...
discount supermarket, an electronics store, the Gush Etzion Winery, and the restaurant Gavna. The junction is a popular hitchhiking post which has frequently been the site of attacks by Palestinians against Israeli citizens.
See also
- Gush Etzion ConvoyGush Etzion ConvoyFrom November 1947 the roads to the four kibbutzim of Gush Etzion , south of Jerusalem were blockaded by militias from neighbouring villages. The Haganah used a strategy of armed convoys to get supplies to the outposts. The initial convoys to the bloc used open pickup trucks , since the British...
- Convoy of 35Convoy of 35The Convoy of 35 refers to 35 soldiers of the Haganah who were killed while attempting to resupply and or reinforce the Gush Etzion kibbutzim by foot on January 16, 1948, after a number of convoys had been attacked during the early stages of the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine.- Attack...
- Kfar Etzion massacreKfar Etzion massacreThe Kfar Etzion massacre was an act committed by Arab armed forces on May 13, 1948, the day before the Declaration of Independence of the state of Israel.-Background:...
- Gush Etzion Regional CouncilGush Etzion Regional CouncilThe Gush Etzion Regional Council is a regional council in the northern Judean Hills, the northern part of the southern area of the West Bank, administering the settlements in the Gush Etzion region, as well as others nearby...