Mateh Binyamin Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית מטה בנימין, ''Mo'atza Azorit Mateh Binyamin,'' Lit. Council for the Region of the

Tribe of Benjamin According to the Torah, the Tribe of Benjamin () was one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. The tribe was descended from Benjamin, the youngest son of the patriarch Jacob (later given the name Israel) and his wife Rachel. In the Samaritan Pentateuc ...

) is a regional council

governing Governance is the process of interactions through the laws, norms, power or language of an organized society over a social system ( family, tribe, formal or informal organization, a territory or across territories). It is done by the gove ...

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 ...

s and outposts in the West Bank. The council's jurisdiction is from the

Jordan valley The Jordan Valley ( ar, غور الأردن, ''Ghor al-Urdun''; he, עֵמֶק הַיַרְדֵּן, ''Emek HaYarden'') forms part of the larger Jordan Rift Valley. Unlike most other river valleys, the term "Jordan Valley" often applies just to ...

in the east to the Samarian foothills in the west, and from the Shiloh river in the north to the Jerusalem Mountains in the south. The

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense. Types of seat The following are examples of different kinds of seat: * Armchair (furniture), ...

of the council is

Psagot Psagot ( he, פְּסָגוֹת, ''lit.'' Peaks) is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, located on Tawil hill, adjacent to the State of Palestine, Palestinian cities of Ramallah and al-Bireh. Established in 1981, it is organised as a commun ...

. The council is named for the ancient Israelite

tribe of Benjamin According to the Torah, the Tribe of Benjamin () was one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. The tribe was descended from Benjamin, the youngest son of the patriarch Jacob (later given the name Israel) and his wife Rachel. In the Samaritan Pentateuc ...

, whose territory roughly corresponds to that of the council. The region in which the Binyamin settlements are located is referred to as the Binyamin Region. The

international community The international community is an imprecise phrase used in geopolitics and international relations to refer to a broad group of people and governments of the world. As a rhetorical term Aside from its use as a general descriptor, the term is ...

considers Israeli settlements to be illegal, but the state of Israel disputes this, and this applies to all communities under the administration of Mateh Binyamin. In November 2007, Avi Roeh was elected head of the council. The previous head, Pinchas Wallerstein, stepped down after being in the position for 28 years. In October 2018,

Israel Gantz Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

was elected head of the council.

Economy and employment

There are two industrial areas, Sha'ar Binyamin Industrial zone and Shiloh Industrial Zone, and a great amount of agriculture fields.

History and sites

The first capital of the Israeli kingdom was established in Shiloh, were the

Tabernacle According to the Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle ( he, מִשְׁכַּן, mīškān, residence, dwelling place), also known as the Tent of the Congregation ( he, link=no, אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד, ’ōhel mō‘ēḏ, also Tent of Meeting, etc.), ...

rested. The region blossomed in the Israeli kingdom, and many Jewish settlements and towns were established here. Ruins can be found today at the foundations of some of the Arab villages in the area.

List of settlements

This regional council provides various municipal services for the 46 settlements within its territory: * Ahia * Adei Ad * Almon (Anatot) *

Alon Alon or ALON may refer to: * Alon (name), an Israeli given name and surname * Alon, Mateh Binyamin, an Israeli settlement in the West Bank * Alon Inc, an American airplane builder, known for the Alon A-4 * Alon USA, an American energy company * Alu ...

* Amichai *

Ateret Ateret ( he, עֲטֶרֶת, ''lit.'' Crown) is an Israeli settlement organized as a community settlement in the West Bank. Located in the municipal jurisdiction of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council, it is located on a hilltop, at an elevation ...

Beit Horon Beit Horon ( he, בֵּית חוֹרוֹן) is a communal Israeli settlement in the West Bank. Bordering Route 443 between Modi'in and Jerusalem, the biblical pass of Beit Horon (Joshua 10:10), after which it is named, it falls under the juris ...

* Dolev *

Eli Eli most commonly refers to: * Eli (name), a given name, nickname and surname * Eli (biblical figure) Eli or ELI may also refer to: Film * ''Eli'' (2015 film), a Tamil film * ''Eli'' (2019 film), an American horror film Music * ''Eli'' (Jan ...

Esh Kodesh Esh Kodesh (, lit. ''Sacred Fire'') is an Israeli outpost in the West Bank near Shilo. It falls under the jurisdiction of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council. Israeli outposts in the West Bank are considered illegal both under international law ...

* Ganei Modi'in *

Geva Binyamin Geva Binyamin ( he, גֶּבַע בִּנְיָמִין. ''lit.'' Benjamin Hill), also known as Adam (), is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, built over land expropriated from the Palestinian village of Jaba'. It is organised as a communit ...

(Adam) * Giv'at Har'el * Giv'on HaHadasha * Harasha * Hashmonaim * Keeda * Kfar Adumim * Kfar HaOranim (Menora/Giv'at Ehud) * Kokhav HaShahar *

Kokhav Ya'akov Kokhav Ya'akov ( he, כּוֹכַב יַעֲקֹב, lit. ''Star of Jacob'') is a religious Israeli settlement in the West Bank. Located between Ramah in Benjamin and Beit El near al-Bireh about 10 minutes away by car from the Jerusalem neighborh ...

Ma'ale Levona Ma'ale Levona ( he, מַעֲלֵה לְבוֹנָה, lit. ''Ascent of Frankincense'') is an Israeli settlement organized as a community settlement in the West Bank. Located to the south-east of Ariel, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh ...

Ma'ale Mikhmas Ma'ale Mikhmas ( he, מַעֲלֵה מִכְמָשׂ) is an Israeli settlement in the Binyamin region of the northern West Bank. Located a few miles northeast of Jerusalem, it falls under the municipal jurisdiction of Mateh Binyamin Regional Cou ...

* Matityahu *

Mevo Horon Mevo Horon ( he, מְבוֹא חוֹרוֹן, ''lit.'' Horon Gateway) is an Israeli settlement and religious moshav shitufi in the West Bank. Located near Latrun and Modi'in, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Binyamin Regional Council. In ...

* Migron * Mitzpe Danny *

Mitzpe Hagit Mitzpe Hagit () is an Israeli outpost in the West Bank. Located near the settlement of Kfar Adumim, it falls under the jurisdiction of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council. It is home to around 25 families. The outpost was established in 1999 by ...

Mitzpe Kramim Mitzpe Kramim ( he, מצפה כרמים, lit. ''Vineyards Lookout'') is an Israeli outpost in the West Bank. Located on a mountain ridge overlooking the Jordan Valley, it falls under the jurisdiction of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council. It is bui ...

Mitzpe Yeriho Mitzpe Yeriho, also spelled Mitzpeh Yericho ( he, מִצְפֵּה יְרִיחוֹ, ''lit.'' Jericho Lookout), is a religious Israeli settlement in the West Bank. Located 20 km east of Jerusalem and 10 km east of Ma'ale Adummim alon ...

Na'ale Na'ale ( he, נַעֲלֶה, ''lit.'' Exalted) is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank. Located near Modi'in, it is organised as a community settlement and falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Binyamin Regional Council. In it had a populatio ...

* Nahliel * Neria (Talmon Bet/North) * Neveh Erez *

Halamish Halamish ( he, חַלָּמִישׁ. ''lit.'' Flint), also known as Neveh Tzuf ( he, נְוֵה צוּף, links=no, ''lit.'' Oasis of Nectar), is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, located in the southwestern Samarian hills to the north ...

(Neve Tzuf) *

Nili NILI was a Jewish espionage network which assisted the United Kingdom in its fight against the Ottoman Empire in Palestine between 1915 and 1917, during World War I. NILI is an acronym which stands for the Hebrew phrase "Netzah Yisrael Lo Yesha ...

Nofei Prat Nofei Prat ( he, נוֹפֵי פְּרָת, ''lit.'' Prat Scenes) is an Israeli settlement organized as a community settlement (Israel), community settlement in the West Bank. Located near Ma'ale Adumim, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Bi ...

Ofra Ofra ( he, עֹפְרָה) is an Israeli settlement located in the northern West Bank. Located on the main road between Jerusalem and Nablus (Route 60), it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Binyamin Regional Council. In it had a population ...

Rimonim Rimonim ( he, רִמּוֹנִים, רימונים), is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank. Located on the Allon Road, about a twenty-minute drive east from Jerusalem, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Binyamin Regional Council. In ...

* Shiloh * Shvut Rachel * Talmon * Tel Zion The majority of towns and villages are communal settlements, a small number are urban in character and two are communal. 8 communities are secular; 5 communities are mixed secular and religious (Kfar Adumim, Beit Horon, Alon, Nofei Prat, Geva Binyamin); two large neighborhoods are ultra Orthodox (Tel Zion adjacent to Kochav Yaakov, and the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood in Adam) and the rest of the communities are religious. The

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 ...

of Ofarim was joined with the adjacent local council of Beit Aryeh in 2003 and has ceased to exist as an independent entity. Tel Tzion is a semiautonomous neighbourhood of

, though it is set to ultimately become a separate locality, while Zeit Ra'anan is a semiautonomous neighbourhood of Talmon. Amona was dismantled by government order in 2016 and
new site was authorized in the Shiloh Bloc
Ginot Aryeh was established in 2001 but evacuated in 2004. Settlements to be included on the Israeli side of the

Israeli West Bank barrier The Israeli West Bank barrier, comprising the West Bank Wall and the West Bank fence, is a separation barrier built by Israel along the Green Line and inside parts of the West Bank. It is a contentious element of the Israeli–Palestinian c ...

include those in or near the

Modi'in Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut ( he, מוֹדִיעִין-מַכַּבִּים-רֵעוּת) is an Israeli city located in central Israel, about southeast of Tel Aviv and west of Jerusalem, and is connected to those two cities via Highway 443. In t ...

bloc ( Hashmonaim, Matityahu,

in the

Latrun Latrun ( he, לטרון, ''Latrun''; ar, اللطرون, ''al-Latrun'') is a strategic hilltop in the Latrun salient in the Ayalon Valley, and a depopulated Palestinian village. It overlooks the road between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, 25 kilometers ...

area,

and Giv'on HaHadasha northwest of Jerusalem, and Almon and Kfar Adumim in the

Adummim Adummim ( he, אֲדֻמִּים) is a place-name mentioned in the biblical Book of Joshua in connection with the ascent of Adummim. Location Adummim was apparently on the road between Jerusalem and Jericho in the Judaean desert, today in the W ...

area east of Jerusalem.

References

External links

Council website
{{Coord, 31, 54, N, 35, 13, E, display=title Israeli regional councils in the West Bank