Mevaseret Zion () is a town and local council located to the west of
Jerusalem
Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
, straddling both sides of the Jerusalem–Tel Aviv highway. Mevaseret Zion is composed of two distinct older townships, Maoz Zion and Mevaseret Yerushalayim, under the jurisdiction of one local council. The newer neighborhoods of Mevaseret Zion were not part of either township.
Mevaseret Zion is located on a mountain ridge above sea level, on the outskirts of Jerusalem. In it had a population of 24,409, spread over 15 neighborhoods. It is the wealthiest municipality per capita in the
Jerusalem District
The Jerusalem District (; ) is one of the six administrative districts of Israel. The district capital is Jerusalem and its total land area is 652 km2. The population of 1,159,900 is 66.3% Jewish and 32.1% Arab. A fifth (21%) of the Arab ...
. Mevaseret Zion's current mayor is Yoram Shimon.
History
Castel area
Due to its strategic location, settlement in the area of Mevasseret Zion goes back to antiquity. The Romans built a fortress there, known as Castellum. On the ruins of this fortress, the
Crusaders
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...
built a castle, Castellum Belveer, of which no trace remains. Belveer is mentioned in a letter from Eraclius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, dated September 1187, in which he describes the slaughter of Christians "by the sword of Mafumetus the Unbeliever and his evil worshipper
Saladin
Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known as Saladin, was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from a Kurdish family, he was the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria. An important figure of the Third Crusade, h ...
" and the Arab conquest of the town, which was renamed al-Qastal.
During the British Mandate of Palestine, the British referred to this district as "The Castle". The Palestinians called it "al-Qastal", pronouncing the "t." The Jews called it "HaCástel" ("the Cástel").
In the
1948 Palestine war
The 1948 Palestine war was fought in the territory of what had been, at the start of the war, British-ruled Mandatory Palestine. During the war, the British withdrew from Palestine, Zionist forces conquered territory and established the Stat ...
, battles took place here as Palestinians and Jews fought for control of al-Qastal, which overlooked the main Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway. Al-Qastal exchanged hands several times in the course of the fighting. The tides turned when the Arab commander
Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni
Abdul Qadir al-Husayni (; 1907 – 8 April 1948) was a Palestinian revolutionary and Arab nationalist guerrilla military leader. In late 1933, he founded the secret militant group known as the Organization for Holy Struggle (''Munathamat al-Ji ...
was killed. Many of the Palestinians left their positions to attend al-Husayni's funeral at the
Al-Aqsa Mosque
The Aqsa Mosque, also known as the Qibli Mosque or Qibli Chapel is the main congregational mosque or Musalla, prayer hall in the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in the Old City (Jerusalem), Old City of Jerusalem. In some sources the building is also n ...
on Friday, April 9. That same day, al-Qastal fell to the
Yishuv
The Yishuv (), HaYishuv Ha'ivri (), or HaYishuv HaYehudi Be'Eretz Yisra'el () was the community of Jews residing in Palestine prior to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. The term came into use in the 1880s, when there were about 2 ...
forces, virtually unopposed.
Maoz Zion
Maoz Zion ("Stronghold of Zion") was established in 1951 to house new immigrants from
Iraq
Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
,
Kurdistan
Kurdistan (, ; ), or Greater Kurdistan, is a roughly defined geo- cultural region in West Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, languages, and national identity have historically been based. G ...
, North Africa and
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
who had been living in a
ma'abara
Ma'abarot (, singular: Ma'abara ) were immigrant and refugee absorption camps established in Israel in the 1950s, constituting one of the largest public projects planned by the state to implement its sociospatial and housing policies.
The ma' ...
, or transit camp, at the foot of the Castel hill. Many were employed at the nearby
Solel Boneh
Solel Boneh (, lit. ''Paving and Building'') is the oldest, and one of the largest, construction and civil engineering companies in Israel.
History
During British rule (1921–1948)
Solel Boneh was founded in 1921 in British-ruled Palestine, ...
stone quarry.
Mevasseret Yerushalayim
Mevasseret Yerushalayim was established east of Ma'oz Zion in 1956 by Jewish immigrants from North Africa. It was located on a ridge near the armistice line, north of
Motza
Motza, also Mozah or Motsa, (, ) is a neighbourhood on the western edge of Jerusalem. It is located in the Judaean Mountains, 600 metres above sea level, connected to Jerusalem by the Jerusalem–Tel Aviv highway, Highway 16, and the winding mo ...
. The residents worked in the fruit orchards in the Arazim Valley.
Unified local council
In 1963, Maoz Zion and Mevasseret Yerushalayim formed a joint local council, which was called ''Mevasseret Zion''. The source of the name is the
Book of Isaiah
The Book of Isaiah ( ) is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Major Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. It is identified by a superscription as the words of the 8th-century BC prophet Isaiah ben Amo ...
: "" – "Ascend a lofty mountain, O herald of joy to Zion" ().
Institutions and landmarks
The Har'el shopping mall is located at the entrance to Mevasseret Zion, near the Har'el interchange. The mall serves the residents of Mevasseret Zion, Maoz Zion, the surrounding communities, as well as travelers on Route 1. The shopping mall which includes some 80 businesses has been joined by the Jerusalem Mall on the other side of the highway at the entrance of Maoz Zion.The world's first
kosher
(also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, ), from the Ashke ...
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...
opened there in 1995.
In addition to numerous Orthodox congregations, Mevasseret Zion also has a
Reform
Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...
congregation, Kehillat Mevasseret Zion, founded in 1993.
Population
According to
Israel Central Bureau of Statistics
The Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (, ''HaLishka HaMerkazit LiStatistika''; ), 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 ...
, as of November 2023 (estimated), 25,789 residents live in Mevaseret Zion (86th place in the ranking of local authorities in Israel). The population is growing at an annual growth rate of 2.2%.
Education
Mevasseret Zion has 3 secular primary schools, 2 religious primary schools, 1 middle school, and 1 high school.
* Secular primary schools: "HaShalom" School, "Hador Tal'i" School, "Moledet" School.
* Religious primary schools: "Hemdat Ha-shaked" and "Tzlili Noam"
* Middle school: "Hayovel Middle School"
* High school: "Tichon Har'el"
*
Yeshiva
A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...
: "Yeshivat Sha'arei Mevasseret" includes a
kollel
A kollel (also kolel) (, , , , a "gathering" or "collection" f scholars is an institute for full-time, advanced Torah study, study of the Talmud and rabbinic literature. Like a yeshiva, a kollel features Shiur (Torah), shiurim (lectures) and ...
, mostly catering to adult Israeli men, and a
gap year
A gap year, also known as a sabbatical year, is a period of time when students take a break from their studies, usually after completing high school or before beginning graduate school. During this time, students engage in a variety of educatio ...
program for students from
English-speaking
The English-speaking world comprises the 88 countries and territories in which English is an official, administrative, or cultural language. In the early 2000s, between one and two billion people spoke English, making it the largest language ...
high schools.
Archaeology
In April–May 2003, an archaeological salvage dig carried out on Nahal Sorek Street in Mevasseret Zion unearthed an ancient burial cave dating from the mid-
Second Temple period
The Second Temple period or post-exilic period in Jewish history denotes the approximately 600 years (516 BCE – 70 CE) during which the Second Temple stood in the city of Jerusalem. It began with the return to Zion and subsequent reconstructio ...
.
The ruins of a medieval structure, Khirbet Beit Mizza, are located in Mevasseret Zion, and were believed by some scholars to be the site of the biblical town of Mozah mentioned in the
Book of Joshua
The Book of Joshua is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament, and is the first book of the Deuteronomistic history, the story of Israel from the conquest of Canaan to the Babylonian captivity, Babylonian exile. It tells of the ...
(), until recent excavations made clear that Mozah of the
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach" . '' Modern Hebrew
Modern Hebrew (, or ), also known as Israeli Hebrew or simply Hebrew, is the Standard language, standard form of the Hebrew language spoken today. It is the only surviving Canaanite language, as well as one of the List of languages by first w ...
as .
Sports
Mevasseret Zion holds both a
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
team and a
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
team, both playing for low leagues.
plays in Israel's , Israel's 5th league. It started as Hapoel Mevasseret Zion and then united with Ironi
Abu Ghosh
Abu Ghosh (; ) is an Arab-Israeli local council in Israel, located west of Jerusalem on the Tel Aviv–Jerusalem highway. It is situated 610–720 meters above sea level. It takes its current name from the dominant clan inhabiting the town, ...
, and became the first Israeli team mixed from an
Arab
Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world.
Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...
village and a
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
town. In 2007 Mevasseret-Abu Ghosh was united with Hapoel Katamon, and then separated again. The team is built of Arab and Jewish players, and participated in international friendly tournaments for peace. The team plays in local soccer field called "", which means in
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
, the green field. The capacity is about 200 people.
also plays for . The team plays in the local basketball court with a capacity of 300 seats.
Notable residents
* Rachel Adato (born 1947), gynaecologist, lawyer and politician
*
Dan Bahat
Dan Bahat (; born 1938 in Lviv in Poland) is an Israeli archaeologist especially known for his excavations in Jerusalem, particularly at the Western Wall tunnels.
Biography
Dan Bahat was born in Poland to Polish Jewish parents who were citizen ...
(born 1938), archaeologist
* Aharon Appelfeld (1932–2018), novelist and Holocaust survivor
* Itamar Ben Gvir, (born 1976 in Mevasseret Zion), politician
* (1946–2012), neuropsychologist
* Charlie Biton (1947–2024), social activist and former politician
* (born 1937), politician
* Martin van Creveld (born 1946), military historian and theorist
* (born 1954), author
* (born 1957), politician and national security expert
* (born 1951), policeman and politician
* Josh Reinstein
* (born 1960), computer scientist and businessman
* (born 1958), politician
* (born 1944), military and politician
Sister cities
*
White Plains, New York
White Plains is a city in and the county seat of Westchester County, New York, United States. It is an inner suburb of New York City, and a commercial hub of Westchester County, a densely populated suburban county that is home to about one milli ...
(2004)
*
Sankt Augustin
Sankt Augustin (; Ripuarian: ''Sank Aujustin'') is a town in the Rhein-Sieg district in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is named after the patron saint of the Steyler missionaries, Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430). The missionaries estab ...
, Germany (2001)
*
Calabasas, California
Calabasas (, ; Spanish language in California, Spanish for "winter squash, squashes") is a city in the southwestern region of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States.1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine