Psagot
Encyclopedia
Psagot is a communal
Israeli settlement
in the West Bank
located north of Jerusalem on Tawil hill adjacent to Ramallah
, al-Bireh
, and Kokhav Ya'akov
. Psagot, established in 1981, falls under the jurisdiction of Binyamin Regional Council, with the council's headquarters located there. In 2008 it had a population of 1,623.
The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law
, but the Israeli government disputes this.
. The name also refers to the location of Psagot on the peak of Mount Tawil.
, it came under Israeli control. From September 1976, Arabs were prohibited from building in the area.
In 1981, Ariel Sharon
, then Israeli Minister of Defense
, told Pinchas Wallerstein, head of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council, that he would support initiatives to settle the area. In July 1981, Wallerstein moved the council headquarters to the hill, then occupied by a military intelligence base. Five families from the Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit VeGan took up residence there. A year later, they were joined by a group from the Kerem B'Yavneh yeshiva
who came to create a kollel
.
and the subject of international criticism. According to B'Tselem
, Jewish settlements in the Ramallah area, such as Beit El
and Psagot, prevented the expansion of the city and cut it off from the surrounding villages. During the course of the Second Intifada, Israeli soldiers in Psagot and Palestinians in Ramallah engaged each other. The settlement was used by the Israeli army
in 2001 to fire two missiles into the city during the failed Marwan Barghouti
assassination.
In November 2009, the Psagot settlement and the advocacy group Regavim petitioned the High Court of Justice in an unsuccessful attempt to stop construction of the Al-Bireh International Stadium, citing security concerns.
An official Israeli government report
identified Psagot is the "parent settlement" of an Israeli outpost known as Mitzpe Ha'ai located approximately 400m to the southeast. According to the report, the settlement, unauthorized by the government, was built on land appropriated illegally from its Palestinian
owners. According to Peace Now, an Israeli peace activist group that does research on Israeli settlement in the West Bank, 75.69% of the combined area of Psagot and Mitzpe Ha'ai is on appropriated private land.
's prohibition on the transfer of an occupying power's civilian population into occupied territory. Israel disputes that the Fourth Geneva Convention applies to the Palestinian territories as they had not been legally held by a sovereign prior to Israel taking control of them. This view has been rejected by the International Court of Justice
and the International Committee of the Red Cross
.
. The winery’s top wine is a Bordeaux blend named Edom. Regular varietal wines are produced in the Psagot series and there is also a Port-style wine. In 2007 and 2008, the winery produced 65,000 bottles annually. In 2010 the winery produces 80,000 bottles of wine a year, majority of which was for export. Palestinians and settlers work there side by side, creating an island of co-existence in sea of mistrust. Other wineries exist around Psagot, and the Yesha Council
hopes to make them a tourist attraction. According to the local Palestinians and the Israeli human rights group Yesh Din
, the wineries are partially planted on a privately owned Palestinian land.
Communal settlement (Israel)
A community settlement is a type of town in Israel. While in an ordinary town anyone may buy property, in a community settlement the town's residents, who are organized in a cooperative, can veto a sale of a house or a business to an undesirable buyer....
Israeli settlement
Israeli settlement
An Israeli settlement is a Jewish civilian community built on land that was captured by Israel from Jordan, Egypt, and Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War and is considered occupied territory by the international community. Such settlements currently exist in the West Bank...
in the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
located north of Jerusalem on Tawil hill adjacent to Ramallah
Ramallah
Ramallah is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank located 10 kilometers north of Jerusalem, adjacent to al-Bireh. It currently serves as the de facto administrative capital of the Palestinian National Authority...
, al-Bireh
Al-Bireh
al-Bireh or el-Bira is a Palestinian city adjacent to Ramallah in the central West Bank, north of Jerusalem. It is situated on the central ridge running through the West Bank and is above sea level, covering an area of...
, and Kokhav Ya'akov
Kokhav Ya'akov
Kokhav Ya'akov is a religious communal Israeli settlement in the West Bank. It is located between Ramah in Benjamin and Bet-El near al-Bireh, and is about 10 minutes away by car from the Jerusalem neighborhoods of Pisgat Ze'ev and Neve Yaakov. It falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Binyamin...
. Psagot, established in 1981, falls under the jurisdiction of Binyamin Regional Council, with the council's headquarters located there. In 2008 it had a population of 1,623.
The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law
International law and Israeli settlements
The international community considers the establishment of Israeli settlements in the Israeli-occupied territories illegal under international law, but Israel maintains that they are consistent with international law because it does not agree that the Fourth Geneva Convention applies to the...
, but the Israeli government disputes this.
Etymology
The name Psagot was proposed by one of the early residents, Moshe Ben Asher, a professor and head of The Academy of the Hebrew Language. It expresses the hope that the new village will achieve a peak in settlement and study of the TorahTorah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
. The name also refers to the location of Psagot on the peak of Mount Tawil.
History
Before 1967, Jabel Tawil was known to locals as "Kuwaiti hill" because of numerous visitors from the Persian Gulf who hiked in the area. In 1964, some of the land was purchased by the Jerusalem municipality for a future tourist resort. In the Six-Day WarSix-Day War
The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...
, it came under Israeli control. From September 1976, Arabs were prohibited from building in the area.
In 1981, Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon is an Israeli statesman and retired general, who served as Israel’s 11th Prime Minister. He has been in a permanent vegetative state since suffering a stroke on 4 January 2006....
, then Israeli Minister of Defense
Ministry of Defense (Israel)
The Ministry of Defence of the government of Israel, is the governmental department responsible for defending the State of Israel from internal and external military threats...
, told Pinchas Wallerstein, head of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council, that he would support initiatives to settle the area. In July 1981, Wallerstein moved the council headquarters to the hill, then occupied by a military intelligence base. Five families from the Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit VeGan took up residence there. A year later, they were joined by a group from the Kerem B'Yavneh yeshiva
Yeshivat Kerem B'Yavneh
Yeshivat Kerem B'Yavneh is a major yeshiva in Israel near the city of Ashdod and adjacent to Kvutzat Yavne.-History & Ideology:Founded in 1953, Kerem BeYavneh was the first Yeshivat Hesder. The first Rosh Yeshiva of Kerem B'Yavneh was the renowned scholar Rabbi Chaim Yaakov Goldvicht...
who came to create a kollel
Kollel
A kollel is an institute for full-time, advanced study of the Talmud and rabbinic literature. Like a yeshiva, a kollel features shiurim and learning sedarim ; unlike a yeshiva, the student body of a kollel are all married men...
.
Arab–Israeli conflict
Israeli settlements, including Psagot, have been a major element of the Israeli-Palestinian conflictIsraeli-Palestinian conflict
The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. The conflict is wide-ranging, and the term is also used in reference to the earlier phases of the same conflict, between Jewish and Zionist yishuv and the Arab population living in Palestine under Ottoman or...
and the subject of international criticism. According to B'Tselem
B'Tselem
B'Tselem is an Israeli non-governmental organization . It calls itself "The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories"...
, Jewish settlements in the Ramallah area, such as Beit El
Beit El
Beit El is an Israeli settlement and a local council in the Benjamin region of the central West Bank, within the borders of the Matte Binyamin Regional Council. The religiously observant town is located in the hills north of Jerusalem east of the Palestinian city of al-Bireh. In 2009, it had a...
and Psagot, prevented the expansion of the city and cut it off from the surrounding villages. During the course of the Second Intifada, Israeli soldiers in Psagot and Palestinians in Ramallah engaged each other. The settlement was used by the Israeli army
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
in 2001 to fire two missiles into the city during the failed Marwan Barghouti
Marwan Barghouti
Marwan Hasib Ibrahim Barghouti is a Palestinian political figure. He is regarded as a leader of the First and Second Intifadas. Barghouti at one time supported the peace process, but later became disillusioned, and after 2000 went on to become the main figure behind the Al-Aqsa Intifada in the...
assassination.
In November 2009, the Psagot settlement and the advocacy group Regavim petitioned the High Court of Justice in an unsuccessful attempt to stop construction of the Al-Bireh International Stadium, citing security concerns.
An official Israeli government report
Sasson Report
The Sasson Report is an official Israeli government report published on 8 March 2005 that concluded that Israeli state bodies had been discreetly diverting millions of shekels to build West Bank settlements and outposts that were illegal under Israeli law...
identified Psagot is the "parent settlement" of an Israeli outpost known as Mitzpe Ha'ai located approximately 400m to the southeast. According to the report, the settlement, unauthorized by the government, was built on land appropriated illegally from its Palestinian
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
owners. According to Peace Now, an Israeli peace activist group that does research on Israeli settlement in the West Bank, 75.69% of the combined area of Psagot and Mitzpe Ha'ai is on appropriated private land.
Status under international law
The international community considers Israeli settlements to violate the Fourth Geneva ConventionFourth Geneva Convention
The Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, commonly referred to as the Fourth Geneva Convention and abbreviated as GCIV, is one of the four treaties of the Geneva Conventions. It was adopted in August 1949, and defines humanitarian protections for civilians...
's prohibition on the transfer of an occupying power's civilian population into occupied territory. Israel disputes that the Fourth Geneva Convention applies to the Palestinian territories as they had not been legally held by a sovereign prior to Israel taking control of them. This view has been rejected by the International Court of Justice
International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands...
and the International Committee of the Red Cross
International Committee of the Red Cross
The International Committee of the Red Cross is a private humanitarian institution based in Geneva, Switzerland. States parties to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977 and 2005, have given the ICRC a mandate to protect the victims of international and...
.
Economy
The Psagot winery was founded by Na’ama and Yaakov Berg, who planted vineyards in 1998. In addition to a modern barrel cellar, some of the oak barriques are stored in a cave dating back to the Second TempleSecond Temple
The Jewish Second Temple was an important shrine which stood on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem between 516 BCE and 70 CE. It replaced the First Temple which was destroyed in 586 BCE, when the Jewish nation was exiled to Babylon...
. The winery’s top wine is a Bordeaux blend named Edom. Regular varietal wines are produced in the Psagot series and there is also a Port-style wine. In 2007 and 2008, the winery produced 65,000 bottles annually. In 2010 the winery produces 80,000 bottles of wine a year, majority of which was for export. Palestinians and settlers work there side by side, creating an island of co-existence in sea of mistrust. Other wineries exist around Psagot, and the Yesha Council
Yesha Council
The Yesha Council is an umbrella organization of municipal councils of Jewish settlements in the West Bank , known by the Hebrew acronym Yesha.The Chairman of the Yesha Council is Dani Dayan, elected in July 2007...
hopes to make them a tourist attraction. According to the local Palestinians and the Israeli human rights group Yesh Din
Yesh Din
Yesh Din is an Israeli human rights group providing legal assistance to citizens of the Palestinian territories. Its name comes from a Hebrew phrase meaning “there is law”...
, the wineries are partially planted on a privately owned Palestinian land.