Gush Etzion

Gush Etzion (Hebrew גּוּשׁ עֶצְיוֹן ) is a group of Israeli settlements ( = settlement bloc ) in the West Bank and a regional government in Judea and Samaria. The area of settlement bloc and regional government are not entirely identical. Gush Etzion is halfway between Jerusalem and Hebron.

History

First attempts to build settlements on the territory of today Gush Etzion failed 1917-1919 and 1935-1936.

The first settlements ( Kfar Etzion, Maasuot Yitzhak, A Tzurim and Rewadim ) was founded in 1943-1947. As of November 29, 1947 Kfar Etzion was besieged and cut off from supplies from Jerusalem. On 13 May 1948 were the last defenders from Kfar Etzion. The last 127 Jewish inhabitants were massacred by the Arab Legion. The other villages surrendered the next day. The inhabitants were captured and plundered and burned the houses.

This event tells the story into two periods.

After the Six Day War of 1967, the area was repopulated by Israelis. The first settlement, Kfar Etzion was the newly built in September 1967. Many of the returnees in the settlement of Kfar Etzion were children of residents of the original settlements. According to a report by the Israeli organization Peace Now there are 23.86 % of the land on which the settlements of this block was built on Palestinian private property; even after Israeli legal opinion should not have been built on this land.

Sponsored by the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert presented in 2006 convergence plan of Gush Etzion settlement bloc to one of the three major settlement areas beyond the Green Line in the West Bank that Israel wants for itself heard.

Settlement bloc

The Gush Etzion settlement bloc includes the following settlements:

Regional administration

The Gush Etzion Regional Council (Hebrew מועצה אזורית גוש עציון, Mo'atza Azorit Gush Etzion ) is responsible for all settlements in the settlement blocs, with the exception of independent local governments Beitar Illit and Efrat. In addition belong to their more settlements in the judäischem Bergland: Ibei Hanachal, Kedar, Kfar Eldad, Maale Amos Maale Rehav'am, Metzad, Nokdim, PNEI Kedem and Tekoa.

History

In 1980, the regional government was established.

Structure

The Regional Administration is responsible for:

Population

The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics are at the census of 4 June 1983 November 4, 1995 and 28 December 2008 for the regional administration following population figures to:

Mayor

• Sheila Gal
• Shaul Goldstein ( Until December 2011)
• Davidi Perl (since 2012)

Museums

The history of Gush Etzion including the heavy fighting in the War of 1948 with the result of the destruction of the villages is vividly illustrated in the Central Museum in Kfar Etzion in addition to the original, the last position of the defending kibbutz residents - including a auiodvisuellen performance.