Mitzpe Yair ( he, מצפה יאיר, lit. ''Yair Lookout'') is an
unauthorized 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 ...
in the
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 ...
. Located two kilometres south-east of Susya, it falls under the jurisdiction of
Har Hebron Regional Council
The Har Hevron Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית הר חברון, ''Mo'atza Azorit Har Hevron'') is an Israeli regional council in the southern Judean Hills area of Mount Hebron, in the southern West Bank, administering Israeli settle ...
. It consists of 15 prefabricated structures, and is home for several families.
History
Mitzpe Yair was established by Meir Am-Shalem in October 1998, and, according to Gideon Levy, was a
price tag operation set up as Magen David Farm in retribution for the murder of a
Susya
Susya ( ar, سوسية, he, סוּסְיָא; Susiyeh, Susiya, Susia) is a location in the southern Hebron Governorate in the West Bank. It houses an archaeological site with extensive remains from the Second Temple and Byzantine periods, inclu ...
settler, Yair Har-Sinai, after whom it was subsequently renamed.
Gideon Levi
Gideon Levy ( he, גדעון לוי; born 2 June 1953) is an Israeli journalist and author. Levy writes opinion pieces and a weekly column for the newspaper '' Haaretz'' that often focus on the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories ...
'Not sacred, not stolen'
at Haaretz
''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner f ...
, 7 September 2012
Legal status
Mitzpe Yair is an unauthorized settlement that is regarded as illegal by the Israeli regional administration. In 2007
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 ...
revealed that a police superintendent was residing there despite its illegal status. The officer was ordered to evacuate his house by July that year.
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]
The international community considers all Israeli settlements in the West Bank
illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this
in regard to those settlements who do have state authorization.
A vineyard in a
wadi
Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water onl ...
, planted on privately owned Palestinian land, and run by Elad Movshoviz, produces 7,000 bottles per annum. A legal case on the ownership of the area was, as of 2012, pending before the Israeli High Court of Justice.
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]
References
External links
Peace Now's Information
{{Har Hebron Regional Council
Israeli settlements in the West Bank
Populated places established in 1998
Unauthorized Israeli settlements