Beit El or Beth El () is an Israeli settlement and local council located in the Binyamin Region of the West Bank. The Orthodox Jewish town was settled in 1977–78 by the ultranationalist group Gush Emunim. It is located in the hills north of Jerusalem, east of the Palestinian city of al-Bireh, adjacent to Ramallah. In September 1997, Beit El was awarded local council status. The head of the local council is Shai Alon. In its population was .
The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this. The Ulpana neighbourhood was evacuated when it emerged that it was built on private Palestinian land. The World Zionist Organization (WZO) halted land transactions in the Aleph neighbourhood of Beit El after it emerged that some 250 buildings there were constructed illegally, and fraud was suspected.
Geography Beit El, with a higher elevation than Jerusalem, has cool nights in summer and occasional snow in winter. The Pisgat Ya'akov neighborhood (also named Jabel Artis) has a hilltop observatory with a commanding view of the surrounding hills. Tel Aviv area and Mount Hermon can be seen on clear days.
Northeast of Beit El is the Ma'ayanot Qara Nature Reserve, so named on account of its proximity to the nearby village of Dura al-Qara'. The nature reserve is the site of five natural springs whose source is a channel carved between overlying cliffs. The limestone formations at the springs are dated to the Cenomanian age. The nature reserve is a habitat for Hedera helix ivy, not known anywhere else between the region of Edom to the south and the Galilee to the north, as well as Teucrium montbretii, which grows only in the vicinity of Ramallah.
History Army activity, land expropriation (1967-77) After the Six-Day War in 1967, the area came under Israeli occupation. According to ARIJ, Israel confiscated land from three nearby Palestinian towns/villages in order to construct Beit El: 680 dunams from Dura al-Qar'; Dura el Qar’ Village Profile, ARIJ, p. 17 346 dunams from Al-Bireh;Al Bireh City Profile ARIJ, p. 17 137 dunams from Ein Yabrud.‘Ein Yabrud village profile, ARIJ, p. 19
In 1970, private Palestinian land of al-Bireh and Dura al-Qar was seized by military order for a military outpost and later on consigned to settlers for the purpose of civilian settlement.
Settlement beginnings (1977–79) In 1977, Beit El was established on this land. Seventeen families settled near the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) base. The settlement consisted of Beit El Aleph (Beit El A), a residential religious community in the southern half of Beit El, whose inhabitants worked in the free professions outside the yishuv, and Beit El Bet (Beit El B), situated on the northern hill around the yeshiva founded by Ya'akov Katz and Zalman Baruch Melamed,JewishVirtualLibrary, BET(H)-EL. Torah MiTzion, Love of The Land: Beit El . 23 October 2004 partly on private land and partly on land purchased by the Himnuta land development company (a subsidiary of JNF-KKL). Public buildings and civilian homes and caravans were built on the land.Summary of "Spiegel Database" by Yesh Din, "Spiegel Database" of West Bank settlements and outposts developed by the Israeli Ministry of Defense. Full document in Hebrew.
The settlement has been founded by the ultranationalist group Gush Emunim.
While the government declared that requisition of the land was temporary, in the Beit El case of 1978 the Israeli High Court approved the settlement for reasons of "general security".The Settlement Process: A Study in Illegality. Palestine-Israel Journal (PIJ), Vol.7, Nos. 3 & 4 (2000). See chapter The High Court of Justice – The Judicial Approval for Israeli SettlementElon Moreh case, HCJ 390/79, Hamoked translation, p.33 The state declared that the right of the settlers to remain in Beit El would expire upon the termination of its military necessity.Eli M. Salzberger, Separation of Powers and the Roles of the judiciary Through an Israeli Perspective, Chapter 3.5. (office-doc) → HCJ 606/78, Beit El case. 2007, University of Haifa
On 10 April 1979, the Joint Settlement Committee of the Israeli Government and the World Zionist Organization endorsed the split into Beit El A and Beit El B.UNGA, Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories , par. 132 (doc.nr. A/34/631). 13 November 1979
Development In 1997, when Beit El was awarded local council status, Beit El A and Beit El B again became a single settlement.
Court cases over land ownership In July 2015, the IDF demolished two buildings built illegally on Palestinian land, as found by the Israeli High Court. The demolition has been mentioned as a possible cause for the Duma arson killings, considered to be a "price tag" response to it.
Neighborhoods Beit El is located on a non-contiguous area, but according to a Yesh Din petition, the neighborhoods are connected by illegal construction. Only Maoz Zur was built on land classified by Israel as state land.2008 Ulpana petition (HCJ 9060/08 d.d. 29 October 2008), par. 31–41. English summary of the petition For map and satellite-view of current military basis and Beit El see Wikimapia Maoz Tzur was established on the land of the IDF base in 1998."Hopes for Peace Talks Dim As Israel Extends Settlement". The New York Times, 1 January 1998. A secret database published by Haaretz in 2009 revealed that Beit El was largely built on private Palestinian lands, without approval.Haaretz, Uri Blau, . 30 January 2009. The published document in Hebrew:. (A small) Part of it was translated in English by Yesh Din: "Spiegel Database" of West Bank settlements and outposts developed by the Israeli Ministry of Defense. According to Peace Now, private Palestinian property makes up 96.85% of the land that Beit El, along with its outposts.Breaking the Law in the West Bank – One Violation Leads to Another: Israeli Settlement Building on Private Palestinian Property Peace Now. 2006 October. April 2012, the State continued delaying the demolition. On 7 May 2012, the Supreme Court rejected the State's application to re-open the proceeding and decided that the five buildings, each with 6 apartments, should be demolished before 1 July.Decision of the Supreme Court . HCJ 9060/08 (see par. 12), 7 May 2012 End of June, 33 families left the apartments, but despite earlier rulings and promises, in November 2012 the High Court again granted the State a delay regarding demolishing of the buildings.Jerusalem Post, "Court gives state 4 months to give Beit El position". 12 November 2012.
On 3 January 1997, residents of Beit El, led by Ya'akov Katz, occupied the site at night. The Israeli outpost was named Maoz Tzur, after Ita and Ephraim Tzur who had been murdered 3 weeks earlier. Later, this name was used for the neighborhood Maoz Tzur, built at the southern edge of Beit El, and sometimes erroneously used for Ulpana. Two days later, the site was voluntarily evacuated in anticipation of further enlargement of Beit El.Mid-East Realities (MER), Settlers Just Keep On Going. 4 January 1997
In 2001, Pisgat Ya'akov (Jabel Artis) was established northeast of Ulpana. In 2003, the land was seized by military order, allegedly for use as a helipad, although residents said they never saw helicopters at the site.Chaim Levinson Beit El land deal was based on forged documents, probe finds. Haaretz, 22 June 2012. In February 2001, caravans were placed there and infrastructure was financed by the Ministry of Housing and Construction. In August 2003, there were 20 caravans. Tel Haim and Jabel Artis were merged, becoming Beit El Mizrach.Nadav Shragai, Beit El East outpost comes down – and moves to Mount Artis . Haaretz, 5 August 2003] Jabel Artis was partially built on land of the Palestinian Hussein Farahat. Apparently, the land was registered with forged documents, suggesting it was bought from the already 32 year dead Farahat.
Beit El East (Tel Haim) consists of a caravan neighborhood adjacent to the Beit El Camps shooting ranges (IDF). It is built on private Palestinian land with state financing.Peace Now, Beit El East Also in 2001, some south of Beit El, the outpost Giv'at Asaf (Givat Assaf) was set up. Next to Givat Assaf the outpost Oz Zion was established, which was removed by the IDF forces in December 2012.Jerusalem Post, IDF completes evacuation of Oz Zion outpost. 30 December 2012.
The World Zionist Organization's Settlement Division is responsible for the exploitation of "state lands" in Israel as well as in the Occupied Territories. When it became clear that some 250 homes in Beit El were fraudulently registered, the WZO decided to suspend the transfer of property rights.Chaim Levinson, Large-scale fraud halts land deals in West Bank settlement of Beit El. Haaretz, 15 October 2013 (pay article)
In 1999, the Ulpana neighborhood (Giv'at Ha'ulpana) was established northeast of Beit El. It is named for the two religious high schools for girls (ulpana) located there.Eetta Prince-Gibson, Battle lines drawn in the West Bank’s Ulpana neighborhood, with far-reaching implications . JTA, 1 May 2012.
In 2003, apartment buildings were constructed by the Company for the Development of Beit El's Yeshiva Complex (CEO Yoel Tzur) and Amana.2008 Ulpana petition, par. 24,29 English summary of the petition All structures in Ulpana, including public buildings, permanent homes, caravans and an industrial area, were built on private Palestinian land and without an approved plan. According to the Sasson Report, it is not an outpost but an unauthorized neighborhood. It was built on the outskirts of Beit El with funding from the Ministry of Housing and Construction, and the homeowners received state grants and bank mortgages."High Court orders Ulpana homes demolished by July 1". The Jerusalem Post. 7 May 2012. A stop-work order was issued by an Israeli court in September 1999, followed by a number of stop-work and demolition orders, but construction continued.