Kfar HaOranim ( he, כְּפָר הָאֳרָנִים, , Village of the Pines), also known as Menora ( he, מְנוֹרָה) or Giv'at Ehud, is an
Israeli settlement in the
West Bank
The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
. Contiguous with
Lapid and located near to the major city of
Modi'in
Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut ( he, מוֹדִיעִין-מַכַּבִּים-רֵעוּת) is an Israeli city located in central Israel, about southeast of Tel Aviv and west of Jerusalem, and is connected to those two cities via Highway 443. In t ...
, it is organised as a
community settlement
A community settlement ( he, יישוב קהילתי, ''Yishuv Kehilati'') is a type of village in Israel and the West Bank. While in an ordinary town anyone may buy property, in a community settlement the village's residents are organized in ...
and falls under the jurisdiction of
Mateh Binyamin Regional Council
Mateh Binyamin Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית מטה בנימין, ''Mo'atza Azorit Mateh Binyamin,'' Lit. Council for the Region of the Tribe of Benjamin) is a regional council governing 46 Israeli settlements and outposts in ...
. In it had a population of .
The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank
illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.
History
Planning for the settlement (then named Giv'at Ehud, after Ehud Ben-Amitai, a fighter pilot killed in a training accident) began in 1981. The cornerstone was laid in 1984 at a ceremony attended by
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...
Yitzhak Shamir
Yitzhak Shamir ( he, יצחק שמיר, ; born Yitzhak Yezernitsky; October 22, 1915 – June 30, 2012) was an Israeli politician and the seventh Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms, 1983–1984 and 1986–1992. Before the establishment ...
, by which time the name had changed to Menora. However, legal issues over the ownership of the land led to a delay in construction. The first residents finally moved in during October 1997.
According to
ARIJ, Israel confiscated 682
dunams of land from the
Palestinian
Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
village of
Saffa for the construction of Menora/Kfar HaOranim.
Saffa village profile
ARIJ, p. 17
References
{{Authority control
Israeli settlements in the West Bank
Populated places established in 1997
Mateh Binyamin Regional Council
1997 establishments in the Palestinian territories
Community settlements