Beitar Illit
Beitar Illit and Betar Illit (Hebrew ביתר עילית ) is a city and Israeli settlement in the West Bank. It was founded in 1985 and is located 10 kilometers south-west of Jerusalem, about 5 kilometers west of Bethlehem, and 8 kilometers west of the Etzion Bloc ( Gush Etzion ), where it is attributed to, and extends over several hills of the biblical Judean highlands.
Betar Illit, with 37 575 inhabitants ( end of 2010), mostly ultra-orthodox Jews, referred to in Israel as Haredim, the second largest Israeli settlement in the West Bank. It is located 0.4 kilometers east of the Green Line and is located west of the barrier fence.
Name
Betar Illit, German Upper Betar takes its name from the fortress Betar, the last Jewish stronghold in the Bar Kochba revolt against the Romans, which was destroyed in the year 135. In the immediate vicinity of the ruins is the Palestinian village of Battir.
Legal Status
After Israeli view of the Etzion Bloc and Betar Illit is one of the settlements, which must remain within Israel, it should come to a peace settlement with the Palestinians. The corresponding claim of the Israeli governments in the negotiation of a two -state solution has been supported by several American presidents, including Bill Clinton in 2000.
History
Betar Illit was the first settlement beyond the Green Line, which was planned for ultra-Orthodox Jews whose settlement was funded by the Allon Plan in settlements around Jerusalem from the Labor Party under Yitzhak Rabin in the 1970s. The settlement was officially founded in 1985, but settled until about 1990. The initially slow growth increased after 1995 sharply after the distance to Jerusalem by the expressway was opened in 1995 ( Tunnel Road) had reduced to 10 kilometers. In 2001, Betar Illit had more than 17,000 inhabitants and was raised to town.
Geography
Betar Illit is at an altitude of about 950 meters above sea level in the hills of the biblical Judean hill country, about 5 kilometers west of Bethlehem and 10 kilometers southwest of Jerusalem. The city is spread over several hills. At its northernmost point, it is about 0.4 kilometers from the Green Line, at the southern end of more than 2.5 kilometers. Although 8 km from Gush Etzion, the city is the Etzion allocated block. With Tel Aviv Betar Illit is connected by road 375 direction of Bethlehem Elah valley, with Jerusalem over the highway 60 (Highway 60).
Population
The residents of Betar Illit are almost exclusively ultra-Orthodox Jews, known as haredim in Israel.
The population grew from 2000 to 2005 by 70 percent from 2004 to 2009 by 46 percent to 36,400 inhabitants, in 2009 the growth was around 6.5 percent; the built-up area of the city has more than doubled in the period from 2001 to 2009. The total population is very young, 2007, 62.6 percent younger than 17 years old. Counted in late 2010 Betar Illit 37.575 inhabitants.
Land question
According to a report by the Israeli organization Shalom Achschaw are 15.2 percent of the land on which the town was built. Palestinian in private property, in violation of Israeli law Since a ruling by the Israeli Supreme Court in 1979 no Israeli settlements may be built on land that is located in the Palestinian private property. The Israeli military administration in the occupied territories, on whose statistics the report is based, however, denies that the report reflects the reality correctly.
Controversies
In the vicinity of Betar Illit Palestinians living accuse the Jewish settlers to dispose of their waste water unfiltered on Palestinian fields.