Motza Illit () is 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 ...

in central Israel. Located on a slope overlooking the Jerusalem Mountains,

Ein Karem Ein Karem (; )Sharon, 2004, p155/ref> also Ein Kerem or Ain Karem, is a historic mountain village southwest of Jerusalem, presently a neighborhood in the outskirts of the modern city, within the Jerusalem District in Israel. It is the site of th ...

, the Motza Valley and

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 ...

, it falls under the jurisdiction of

Mateh Yehuda Regional Council Mateh Yehuda Regional Council (, ''Mo'atza Azorit Mateh Yehuda'', ) is a Regional council (Israel), regional council in the Jerusalem District of Israel. In 2024 it was home to 51,125 people. The name of the regional council stems from the fact t ...

. In it had a population of .

History

Settlement in the area goes back to ancient times, with thousands of year old terraces and archaeological remains in the area. In 1929, old

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 ...

was attacked by Arab rioters and some residents were murdered. Four years later in 1933 a new

moshav A moshav (, plural ', "settlement, village") is a type of Israeli village or town or Jewish settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 and 1 ...

, Motza Ilit, was established at a higher location on the same slope. In January 1934 a house-warming party was held by twenty Jewish families who had built homes in Motza Illit with the aid of the Jewish National Council ("Va'ad Leumi") and emergency funds.Upper Motza Families Celebrate Settlement of New Jewish Workers
/ref> Motza Illit overlooks the

Judaean Mountains The Judaean Mountains, or Judaean Hills (, or ,) are a mountain range in the West Bank and Israel where Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Hebron and several other biblical sites are located. The mountains reach a height of . The Judean Mountains can be di ...

, the churches and monasteries of

, the Beit Zayit water reservoir and the Jerusalem Forest. It has three secular kindergartens. Elementary school children study at the Ein Harim Elementary School near the Beit Zayit water reservoir. For secondary school, Motza Illit's children study at a range of local secondary schools (Ein Karem Secondary School) and in Jerusalem (University Secondary School, Boyer, Science and Arts Secondary School, Academy for Music and Dance and more).

Notable residents

* David Kaminsky (born 1938), basketball player and coach *

Ehud Olmert Ehud Olmert (; , ; born 30 September 1945) is an Israeli politician and lawyer who served as the prime minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009. The son of a former Herut politician, Olmert was first elected to the Knesset for Likud in 1973, at th ...

* Anna Ticho

Gallery

File:7 sisters.jpg, Seven Sisters Road in 1948 File:Seven Sisters Road Moza Illit.jpg, Seven Sisters Road to Motza Illit in 2010 File:Moza Illit.jpg, Street in Motza Illit

References

{{Authority control Community settlements Former moshavim Populated places established in 1933 Populated places in Jerusalem District 1933 establishments in Mandatory Palestine