Avnei Hefetz is an Israeli 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...

 and a village

Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 located on the western edge of the northern 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...

. The village

Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

, under the administrative municipal government of the Shomron Regional Council

Shomron Regional Council

The Shomron Regional Council is a regional council in the northern Samarian hills, in the northern part of the West Bank. The offices of the regional council are located in the Barkan Industrial Park. This regional council provides various municipal services for the 30 Israeli settlements within...

, is located adjacent to Tulkarm

Tulkarm

Tulkarem or Tulkarm is a Palestinian city in the northern Samarian mountain range in the Tulkarm Governorate in the extreme northwestern West Bank adjacent to the Netanya and Haifa districts to the west, the Nablus and Jenin Districts to the east...

, Einav

Einav

Einav is a communal village and an Israeli settlement in the northern West Bank. Located on Highway 57 between Avnei Hefetz and Shavei Shomron, the religious Zionist and Orthodox Jewish community is within the municipal jurisdiction of the Shomron Regional Council. Established in 1981 with the...

 and Sal'it

Sal'it

Sal'it is a moshav and Israeli settlement in the West Bank. Located in the eastern Sharon plain around eight kilometres south of Tulkarm, it falls under the jurisdiction of Shomron Regional Council...

. The nearest Israel

Israel

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

i cities are Netanya

Netanya

Netanya is a city in the Northern Centre District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is located north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa between the 'Poleg' stream and Wingate Institute in the south and the 'Avichail' stream in the north.Its of beaches have made the...

 to the west and Kfar Sava to the southwest, both about a twenty five minute drive away.

The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank 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.

There are four distinct neighbourhoods of Avnei Hefetz:

• Neve Hefetz - urban
• Avnei Shoham - rural
• Mitzpe Hefetz - rural
• Avnei Hen - rural

History

Established in 1990 by a group of Israeli Orthodox Jewish

Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...

 students from the Karnei Shomron Hesder Yeshiva

Karnei Shomron

Karnei Shomron is an Israeli settlement and local council established in 1977 in the northwestern West Bank, east of Kfar Sava. It is north-east of Tel Aviv and north of Jerusalem. In 2006, the population of Karnei Shomron was 6,300...

 with help from Amana, Avnei Hefetz is now home to over 200 families, including hundreds of children. The name of the village comes from Isaiah

Isaiah

Isaiah ; Greek: ', Ēsaïās ; "Yahu is salvation") was a prophet in the 8th-century BC Kingdom of Judah.Jews and Christians consider the Book of Isaiah a part of their Biblical canon; he is the first listed of the neviim akharonim, the later prophets. Many of the New Testament teachings of Jesus...

 54:12:

"And I will make thy pinnacles of rubies, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy border of precious stones."

Education

There are many institutions located on the settlement: six nurseries

Nursery school

A nursery school is a school for children between the ages of one and five years, staffed by suitably qualified and other professionals who encourage and supervise educational play rather than simply providing childcare...

, six kindergarten

Kindergarten

A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...

s, a combined elementary school

Elementary school

An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...

 and junior high school

Middle school

Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...

, and a morning and evening kollel

Kollel

A kollel is an institute for full-time, advanced study of the Talmud and rabbinic literature. Like a yeshiva, a kollel features shiurim and learning sedarim ; unlike a yeshiva, the student body of a kollel are all married men...

.

External links

• Photos of Avnei Hefetz