Gush Etzion Regional Council
Encyclopedia
Regional council (Israel)
Regional councils are one of the three types of local government entities found in Israel, with the other two being cities and local councils. As of 2003, there were 53 regional councils in Israel, usually responsible for governing a number of settlements spread across rural areas...
in the northern Judean Hills, the northern part of the southern area of 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...
, administering the settlements in the Gush Etzion
Gush Etzion
Gush Etzion is a cluster of Israeli settlements located in the Judaean Mountains directly south of Jerusalem and Bethlehem in the West Bank, Palestinian territories. The core group includes four agricultural villages that were founded in 1940-1947 on property purchased in the 1920s and 1930s, and ...
region, as well as others nearby. The headquarters are located adjacent to 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...
.
The current mayor of the Council is Shaul Goldstein.
List of settlements
This regional council provides various municipal services for the following Israeli settlementIsraeli 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 within its territory:
Historic Gush Etzion
Gush Etzion
Gush Etzion is a cluster of Israeli settlements located in the Judaean Mountains directly south of Jerusalem and Bethlehem in the West Bank, Palestinian territories. The core group includes four agricultural villages that were founded in 1940-1947 on property purchased in the 1920s and 1930s, and ...
:
- Alon ShvutAlon ShvutAlon 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...
- Bat AyinBat AyinBat 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...
- Carmei TzurCarmei TzurKarmei Tzur, or Carmei Tzur is a communal settlement and Israeli settlement in the West Bank located north of Hebron in the Judean hills between the Palestinian towns Beit Ummar and Halhul. The National Religious community with a population of 725 is within the municipal jurisdiction of the Gush...
- GvaotGvaotGva'ot is an Israeli settlement located in the West Bank, in the westernmost area of the Gush Etzion settlement bloc. The location is strategically located above the highway from Gush Etzion to Beit Shemesh and the Shephelah. It is administered by the Gush Etzion Regional Council. A 1982 Israeli...
- Elazar
- Har GiloHar GiloHar 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....
- Kfar EtzionKfar EtzionKfar 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...
(kibbutzKibbutzA 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...
) - Migdal OzMigdal OzStella 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:...
(kibbutz) - Neve DanielNeve DanielNeve 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...
- Rosh TzurimRosh TzurimRosh 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...
(kibbutz)
Judean Mountains
Judean Mountains
The Judaean Mountains, ;, also Judaean Hills and Hebron Hills is a mountain range in Israel and the West Bank where Jerusalem and several other biblical cities are located. The mountains reach a height of 1,000 m.-Geography:...
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- Ibei Hanachal
- Kedar
- Kfar EldadKfar EldadKfar 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...
- Ma'ale AmosMa'ale AmosMa'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...
- Ma'ale Rehav'amMa'ale Rehav'amMa'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...
- MetzadMetzadMetzad , 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...
- Nokdim (El David)NokdimNokdim , lit. Shepherds) is a communal settlement and Israeli settlement in the West Bank, located south of Bethlehem in the northern Judean hills...
- Pnei KedemPnei KedemPnei 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....
- TekoaTekoa (town)Tekoa is an Israeli Jewish communal settlement and Israeli settlement in the northern Judean hills in the West Bank. Tekoa is within the municipal jurisdiction of the Gush Etzion Regional Council...
All of the settlements in the historic Gush Etzion area are on the Israeli side of the West Bank Barrier, except for Carmei Tzur
Carmei Tzur
Karmei Tzur, or Carmei Tzur is a communal settlement and Israeli settlement in the West Bank located north of Hebron in the Judean hills between the Palestinian towns Beit Ummar and Halhul. The National Religious community with a population of 725 is within the municipal jurisdiction of the Gush...
. None of the settlements in the Judean Mountains area are, except for Kedar which is located far north of the others very close to Maale Adummim and is within the eastern Jerusalem section of the barrier.