Kiryat Netafim ( he, קִרְיַת נְטָפִים, ar, كريات نتافيم) is an

Israeli settlement Israeli settlements, or Israeli colonies, are civilian communities inhabited by Israeli citizens, overwhelmingly of Jewish ethnicity, built on lands occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. The international community considers Israeli se ...

located in the northern

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

, about 8 km west of the city

Ariel Ariel may refer to: Film and television *Ariel Award, a Mexican Academy of Film award * ''Ariel'' (film), a 1988 Finnish film by Aki Kaurismäki * ''ARIEL Visual'' and ''ARIEL Deluxe'', 1989 and 1991 anime video series based on the novel series ...

. Organised as a

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

, it falls under the jurisdiction of the

Shomron Regional Council The Shomron Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית שומרון, ''Mo'atza Azorit Shomron'', English ''Samaria Regional Council'') is an Israeli regional council in the northern portion of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Thirty-five Isra ...

. As of , 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.

History

Kiryat Netafim was founded in June 1986 by a group of

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

Yemenite Jews Yemenite Jews or Yemeni Jews or Teimanim (from ''Yehudei Teman''; ar, اليهود اليمنيون) are those Jews who live, or once lived, in Yemen, and their descendants maintaining their customs. Between June 1949 and September 1950, the ...

. It was established on land belonging to the Palestinian villages of Qarawat Bani Hassan,Qarawat Bani Hassan Town Profile
ARIJ, p. 17'Israeli settlers level Palestinian land west of Salfit,'
Ma'an News Agency 9 November 2014. and Haris. The settlement is part of a chain of settlements built along the Trans-Samaria Highway and adjacent to the

Barkan Industrial Park The Barkan Industrial Park ( he, איזור התעשיה ברקן, lit. Barkan Industrial Area) is located about 25 kilometres east of Tel Aviv in the West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġa ...

. It is named after a Bible verse: "New wine will drip from the mountains." (Amos 9:13). Since its founding, Kiryat Netafim has diversified, welcoming families from various different backgrounds. In 2009, the organisation

Peace Now Peace Now ( he, שלום עכשיו ''Shalom Achshav'', ) is a non-governmental organization, liberal advocacy and activist group in Israel with the aim of promoting a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Objectives/position ...

petitioned the Israeli High Court, and laid a complaint against the then Defence Minister

Ehud Barak Ehud Barak ( he-a, אֵהוּד בָּרָק, Ehud_barak.ogg, link=yes, born Ehud Brog; 12 February 1942) is an Israeli general and politician who served as the tenth prime minister from 1999 to 2001. He was leader of the Labor Party until Jan ...

, to order the demolition of 14 illegal structures built without authorization on public and private Palestinian land. The Defence ministry replied given approval to construction plans that would legalize the 14 structures. An interim injunction from the High Court on October 1 prohibited construction until the legal issues were settled. A further request was made on December 29 to find the settlers guilty of contempt for breaching the injunction to stop building. The state admitted the fact but requested the breach be ignored because the state had limited resources to regulate settlements and different priorities.'Suspect violation of interim injunction against construction, residency in settlement,'

Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is a broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Jerusalem Post''. In 2004, the paper w ...

13 July 2010. In November 2014, Netafim began bulldozing and clearing additional Qarawat Bani Hassan territory, under the protection of

IDF IDF or idf may refer to: Defence forces * Irish Defence Forces * Israel Defense Forces *Iceland Defense Force, of the US Armed Forces, 1951-2006 * Indian Defence Force, a part-time force, 1917 Organizations * Israeli Diving Federation * Interac ...

troops, in what appeared to be an effort to extend the settlement. The community is located near of several

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...

Education

The settlement has two

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...

s and one nursery.

References

{{Authority control Religious Israeli settlements Populated places established in 1984 1984 establishments in the Palestinian territories Yemeni-Jewish culture in Israel Israeli settlements in the West Bank