Mitzpe Yeriho, also spelled Mitzpeh Yericho (, ''lit.''

Jericho Jericho ( ; , ) is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, and the capital of the Jericho Governorate. Jericho is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It had a population of 20,907 in 2017. F ...

Lookout), is a religious

Israeli settlement Israeli settlements, also called Israeli colonies, are the civilian communities built by Israel throughout the Israeli-occupied territories. They are populated by Israeli citizens, almost exclusively of Israeli Jews, Jewish identity or ethni ...

in the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

, located next to the

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

city of

, from where it gets its name. Located 20 km east 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 ...

and 10 km east of

Ma'ale Adumim Ma'ale Adumim (; ) is an urban Israeli settlement organized as a city council in the West Bank, seven kilometers () east of Jerusalem. Ma'ale Adumim achieved city status in 1991. In 2015, its population was . It is located along Highway 1, whi ...

along Highway 1 in the

Judean Desert The Judaean Desert or Judean Desert (, ) is a desert in the West Bank and Israel that stretches east of the ridge of the Judaean Mountains and in their rain shadow, so east of Jerusalem, and descends to the Dead Sea. Under the name El-Bariyah, ...

, it is organised as a

community settlement A community settlement (, ''Yishuv Kehilati'') is a type of town or village in Israel and in the West Bank. In an ordinary town, anyone may buy property, but in a community settlement, the village's residents are organized in a cooperative an ...

and falls under the jurisdiction of

Mateh Binyamin Regional Council Mateh Binyamin Regional Council (, ''Mo'atza Azorit Mateh Binyamin,'' Lit. Council for the Region of the Tribe of Benjamin) is a Regional Councils in Israel, regional council Local government in Israel, governing 47 Israeli settlements and Israe ...

. 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.

Geography

The village lies on one of the last cliffs marking the edge of the Judean highlands, and overlooks the

Jordan Rift Valley The Jordan Rift Valley, also Jordan Valley ( ''Bīqʿāt haYardēn'', Al-Ghor or Al-Ghawr), is an elongated endorheic basin located in modern-day Israel, Jordan and the West Bank, Palestine. This geographic region includes the entire length o ...

, the

Dead Sea The Dead Sea (; or ; ), also known by #Names, other names, is a landlocked salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east, the Israeli-occupied West Bank to the west and Israel to the southwest. It lies in the endorheic basin of the Jordan Rift Valle ...

, and the Palestinian city of

, whence its name is derived. The climate is dry, with temperatures a few degrees warmer than Jerusalem temperatures all year round.

History

Founded in October 1977 during the Jewish holiday of

Sukkot Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles or Feast of Booths, is a Torah-commanded Jewish holiday celebrated for seven days, beginning on the 15th day of the month of Tishrei. It is one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals on which Israelite ...

, it was supposed to be located on government lands adjacent to Jericho. Due to the objection of then

Defense Minister A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

Ezer Weizman Ezer Weizman (, ; 15 June 1924 – 24 April 2005) was an Israeli major general and politician who served as the president of Israel, first elected in 1993 and re-elected in 1998. Before the presidency, Weizman was commander of the Israeli Air ...

, they were moved to

Mishor Adumim Mishor Adumim () is an industrial park located in the industrial zone of the Israeli settlement of Ma'ale Adumim, about 10 minutes' drive from Jerusalem, in the West Bank. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Ba ...

. Agriculture Minister

Ariel Sharon Ariel Sharon ( ; also known by his diminutive Arik, ; 26 February 192811 January 2014) was an Israeli general and politician who served as the prime minister of Israel from March 2001 until April 2006. Born in Kfar Malal in Mandatory Palestin ...

suggested a few days later that they relocate to a hilltop overlooking Jericho, its current location. According to ARIJ, in 1978 Israel confiscated 968

dunam A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; ; ; ), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area analogous in role (but not equal) to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amo ...

s of land from the

site of

Nabi Musa Nabi Musa (, also transliterated as Nebi Musa) is primarily a Muslim holy site near Jericho in Palestine, where a local Muslim tradition places the tomb of Moses (called Musa in Islam). The compound is centered on a mosque which contains the alleg ...

in order to construct Mitzpe Yeriho.An Nabi Musa Locality Profile
ARIJ, p. 7 The same year, the settlement was the site of a Palestinian terrorist attack in which an intercity bus was bombed, killing four and wounding 37 people. The original residents were a mixed group of both religiously observant and non-observant Jews. They later split up into two groups, and the non-observant members established a new settlement, Vered Yericho, located in the Jordan Valley below Mitzpe Yeriho and closer to

. Still, Mitzpe Yeriho is a community of various traditions and observance levels. While the main synagogue follows Ashkenazi traditions, there are also two Sephardi synagogues, a Chabad synagogue, a Yemenite synagogue, a

Carlebach minyan A Carlebach minyan or neo-Hasidic minyanhttps://www.jewishideas.org/article/dancing-footsteps-reb-shlomo-halakhic-analysis-carlebach-minyan is a Jewish prayer service that follows the style of Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach and uses the melodies he comp ...

and several other small functioning minyanim. In 1982, the community appointed then 27-year-old Yehuda Kroizer as community rabbi. Rabbi Kroizer gives regular classes, both in the town as well as in the Yeshivat HaRaayon HaYehudi, the former yeshiva of Rabbi

Meir Kahane Meir David HaKohen Kahane ( ; ; born Martin David Kahane; August 1, 1932 – November 5, 1990) was an American-born Israel, Israeli Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox ordained rabbi, writer and ultra-nationalist politician. Founder of the Israeli pol ...

. The yeshiva Netivot Yoseph, a leading

Religious Zionist Religious Zionism () is a religious denomination that views Zionism as a fundamental component of Orthodox Judaism. Its adherents are also referred to as ''Dati Leumi'' (), and in Israel, they are most commonly known by the plural form of the fi ...

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 ...

headed by Rabbi Shabtai Sabbato, was founded in 1990, and moved the following year to Mitzpe Yeriho. The yeshiva is well known for its emphasis on breadth of Talmudic studies (''bekiyut''). It frequently honors students who have completed studying the entire

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

; in 2011, there was a special celebration of 100 graduates who completed Shas. In 2018, the yeshiva opened a Beth Din, a rabbinical court for questions of financial laws. Graduates of the yeshiva who have passed the rabbinate's ''dayanut'' exams will serve as judges. In May 1997, the

Israeli Defense Forces Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli (b ...

dismantled two illegally placed mobile homes in Mitzpe Yeriho.

Demographics

In 2009, the population of Mitzpe Yeriho grew at an annual rate of 5.6%. As of 2010, over 450 families reside in Mitzpe Yeriho.

Environment

In 1999, Mitzpe Yeriho was found to be a "radon-prone" area. Such an area is defined as one in which the

radon Radon is a chemical element; it has symbol Rn and atomic number 86. It is a radioactive noble gas and is colorless and odorless. Of the three naturally occurring radon isotopes, only Rn has a sufficiently long half-life (3.825 days) for it to b ...

concentration is more than 10 times the national average in more than one percent of the homes in the area.

Economy

The community is home to several businesses including an electronics facility, and also serves tourism in the nearby

Wadi Qelt Wadi Qelt (; Qelt is also spelled Qilt and Kelt, sometimes with the Arabic article, el- or al-), in Hebrew Nahal Prat (), formerly Naḥal Faran (Pharan brook), is a valley, riverine gulch or stream ( ', " wadi"; , "nahal") in the West Bank, o ...

nature reserve and its Byzantine-era Saint George Monastery and Hasmonean-era Kypros fortress. It also hosts the Nof Harden wedding hall.

References

External links

Community websiteBinyamin Regional Council information page for Mitzpe YerichoYeshivat Netivot Yoseph websiteNefesh B' Nefesh Community Profiles - Mitzpe YerichoAmerican Friends of Mitzpe Yeriho
{{Authority control Populated places established in 1977 Religious Israeli settlements Mateh Binyamin Regional Council 1977 establishments in the Israeli Military Governorate Community settlements Judaean Desert Israeli settlements in the West Bank