Ma'ale Mikhmas () is an

Israeli settlement Israeli settlements, also called Israeli colonies, are the civilian communities built by Israel throughout the Israeli-occupied territories. They are populated by Israeli citizens, almost exclusively of Israeli Jews, Jewish identity or ethni ...

in the

Binyamin Benjamin ( ''Bīnyāmīn''; "Son of (the) right") blue letter bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3225/kjv/wlc/0-1/ H3225 - yāmîn - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) was the younger of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel, and Jacob's twe ...

region of the northern

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

. Located a few miles northeast of

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, it falls under the municipal jurisdiction of

Mateh Binyamin Regional Council Mateh Binyamin Regional Council (, ''Mo'atza Azorit Mateh Binyamin,'' Lit. Council for the Region of the Tribe of Benjamin) is a Regional Councils in Israel, regional council Local government in Israel, governing 47 Israeli settlements and Israe ...

and according to Palestinians the

Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate The Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate () is one of 16 governorates of Palestine. It covers a large part of the central West Bank, on the northern border of the Jerusalem Governorate. Its district capital or ''muhfaza'' (seat) is the city of ...

. In 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

Israel confiscated 1287 dunums of land from the

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

town of

Deir Dibwan Deir Dibwan () is a Palestinian city in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate in the central West Bank east of Ramallah. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics the town had a population of 4,169 inhabitants in 2017. There were 5 ...

in order to construct Ma'ale Mikhmas. Ma'ale Mikhmas was founded in 1981 along the

Allon Road Allon Road is the name given by Israel to Routes 458, 508, and 578 in the West Bank, running roughly south–north along the eastern watershed of the Judaean Mountains, Judaean and Samarian Hills, between Highway 1 (Israel), Highway 1 near Kfa ...

by a group of families from

Ma'ale Adumim Ma'ale Adumim (; ) is an urban Israeli settlement organized as a city council in the West Bank, seven kilometers () east of Jerusalem. Ma'ale Adumim achieved city status in 1991. In 2015, its population was . It is located along Highway 1, whi ...

. It is named after the biblical

Michmas Michmas (; ) was an Israelite and Jewish town located in the highlands north of Jerusalem. According to the Hebrew Bible, it belonged to the Tribe of Benjamin. It was the setting of the biblical Battle of Michmash, recounted in 1 Samuel 14. Mich ...

(). The population of Ma'ale Mikhmas is evenly divided between native-born Israelis and

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

from English-speaking countries, South America, France and Ethiopia. It defines itself as religious.

Notable residents

Otniel Schneller Otniel Schneller (; born 28 January 1952) is an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Kadima between 2006 and 2013. Biography Born in Jerusalem, and raised in Michigan, Schneller took Jewish studies and social science at B ...

(born 1952), politician

References

External links

Ma'ale Michmas website
{{Authority control Religious Israeli settlements Mateh Binyamin Regional Council Populated places established in 1981 1981 establishments in the Israeli Military Governorate Community settlements Israeli settlements in the West Bank