Rechelim is an Israeli outpost east of Ariel

Ariel (city)

Ariel is an Israeli settlement and a city in the West Bank. Ariel was established in 1978. Its population at the end of 2009 was 17,600, including 7,000 immigrants who came to Israel after 1990. It is the fourth largest Jewish settlement city in the West Bank., after Modi'in Illit, Beitar Illit,...

 in the jurisdiction 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...

 in 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...

. It is situated on Route 60

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...

, between Kfar Tapuach

Kfar Tapuach

Kfar Tapuach is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, founded in 1978. It sits astride one of the major traffic junctions in the West Bank. The executive director of the village council is Yisrael Blunder. As of December 2007, it had 800 residents...

 and Eli

Eli (town)

Eli is a large mixed communal Israeli settlement in the West Bank. Located on Highway 60 north of Jerusalem and Ramallah, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Binyamin Regional Council. At the end of 2008 it had a population of 2,800...

. The village also lies adjacent to the Palestinian

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...

 towns of Yatma

Yatma

Yatma is a Palestinian town in the Nablus Governorate in northern West Bank, located 15 kilometers South of Nablus. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics , the town had a population of 2,981 inhabitants in mid-year 2006....

 and Qabalan

Qabalan

Qabalan is a Palestinian town in the Nablus Governorate in the eastern West Bank, located southeast of Nablus. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics , the town had a population of 7,130 inhabitants in 2007....

. About 35 families live on the settlement. 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.

History

On October 27, 1991, busloads of Jewish settlers were on their way to a protest in Tel Aviv against the peace negotiations in Madrid, when one of the buses came under attack by Palestinians. The driver Yitzhak Rofeh from West Jerusalem and Rachel Drouk of Shilo

Shilo (town)

Shilo is an Israeli settlement in the northern West Bank, located 28 miles north of Jerusalem on Route 60, next to the Palestinian town Turmus Ayya...

 were killed. After Rachel's funeral, women from settlements all over the West Bank set up tents at the site and remained there despite official disapproval. For a long time only women and children lived there. It was named "Rechelim" (plural of the name "Rachel") after Rachel Drouk, Rachel Weiss, who was killed in a Palestinian attack in 1988, and the matriarch Rachel

Rachel

Rachel , as described in the Hebrew Bible, is a prophet and the favorite wife of Jacob, one of the three Biblical Patriarchs, and mother of Joseph and Benjamin. She was the daughter of Laban and the younger sister of Leah, Jacob's first wife...

.

In 1999, the Council of the European Union

Council of the European Union

The Council of the European Union is the institution in the legislature of the European Union representing the executives of member states, the other legislative body being the European Parliament. The Council is composed of twenty-seven national ministers...

 reported that Rechelim gained retroactive approval from the Israeli government on the basis of its location being on survey land that was transferred to state land. In 2007, the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics

Israel Central Bureau of Statistics

The Israel Central Bureau of Statistics , abbreviated CBS, is an Israeli government office established in 1949 to carry out research and publish statistical data on all aspects of Israeli life, including population, society, economy, industry, education and physical infrastructure.It is headed by a...

 listed a change in the status of Rechelim as belonging to the area of Kfar Tapuach

Kfar Tapuach

Kfar Tapuach is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, founded in 1978. It sits astride one of the major traffic junctions in the West Bank. The executive director of the village council is Yisrael Blunder. As of December 2007, it had 800 residents...

 and not an independent settlement.

Economy

The Tura boutique winery is located in Rechelim.The winery was founded in 2003 as Erez Winery and renamed in 2005. The grapes are grown in vineyards on Har Bracha at an elevation of 840 meters. In 2010, the winery was producing some 12,000 bottles annually, chiefly from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Chardonnay grapes.