Mevo'ot Yericho (, ''lit.'' Doorway to Jericho), founded in 1999, 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 ...

and a

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

located in the

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 ...

's southern Jordan Valley just north of

Jericho Jericho ( ; , ) is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, and the capital of the Jericho Governorate. Jericho is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It had a population of 20,907 in 2017. F ...

, in the Yitav Valley. The site is 150m below sea level. It falls under the municipal jurisdiction of the Bik'at HaYarden Regional Council. 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. On 15 September 2019 the Israeli government officially approved the establishment of the settlement, making it the sixth new official settlement since the

Oslo accords The Oslo Accords are a pair of interim agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO): the Oslo I Accord, signed in Washington, D.C., in 1993; and the Oslo II Accord, signed in Taba, Egypt, in 1995. They marked the st ...

History

Founded as a station for agricultural experiments known as ''Havat HaIklum'' (lit. "The acclimatization farm"), Mevo'ot Yericho became a farming community in 2000. Over the years more families joined and many of them are not involved in agriculture. The total number of families has gone up from a single family to 28 today. Several crops are grown including lemons, dates, figs, grapes, sweet potatoes, passion fruit and more. In the mid-2000s, a project for disadvantaged girls was established at Mevo'ot Yericho. The girls live and work in the community and travel to

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 ...

for studies in the evening. This project is named Ginat Eden () and continues to grow and help these girls every day.

Mikveh

The construction of what may be the world's first solar-powered

mikveh A mikveh or mikvah (, ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvot'', or (Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazic) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for ritual washing in Judaism#Full-body immersion, ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve Tumah and taharah, ...

was completed in 2007. The mikveh is in constant use, including a side opening for the purification of utensils.

New neighborhood

Over the last few years the community has gone through a process of shifting from temporary housing to permanent structures. Several families have moved into the new houses located above and behind the old community center.

Archaeology

Numerous archaeological findings in the area attest to the presence of ancient Jewish settlement. Within the settlement remains of an aqueduct are clearly visible. Remains of this aqueduct run both north and south of the community and can be traced almost all the way from the nearby spring to the area of the ancient synagogue. Both the aqueduct and nearby Na'aran

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

are dated to the 6th century. Archaeologists believe that these are the remains of a thriving Jewish community that existed in this area at that time.

References

External links

August 2008 Americans for Peace Now report on Jordan Valley settlements
{{Bik'at HaYarden Regional Council Jericho Populated places established in 1999 Community settlements 1999 establishments in Palestine