Migdal Oz
מִגְדַּל עֹז‎
Migdal Oz is located in the Southern West Bank
Migdal Oz
Migdal Oz
Coordinates: 31°38′27″N 35°8′38″E / 31.64083°N 35.14389°E / 31.64083; 35.14389
DistrictJudea and Samaria Area
CouncilGush Etzion
RegionWest Bank
AffiliationReligious Kibbutz Movement
Founded1977
Population
 (2021)
567[1]

Migdal Oz (Hebrew: מִגְדַּל עֹז, lit. Tower of Strength) is an Israeli settlement and income-sharing community kibbutz in the West Bank. Located in the historic Etzion bloc 7.4 km from the Green Line and west of the Israeli West Bank barrier, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gush Etzion Regional Council. It neighbors the communities of Kfar Etzion, Alon Shevut, Elazar and Efrat. In 2021 it had a population of 567.

The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.[2]

History

Migdal Oz was established in 1977 on the site of Migdal Eder, a Jewish village destroyed 50 years previously early in the course of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. The name is taken from a Biblical phrase describing God, written in Psalm 61:4 and Proverbs 18:10.[3]

Located in Migdal Oz is the Migdal Oz Beit Midrash which is headed by Esti Rosenberg and operates under the auspices of Yeshivat Har Etzion. The seminary building also houses the women's campus of the Herzog College, which prepares its students for teaching. The college teaches 14 subjects.

In January 2013, the Israeli Defense Forces arrested a Palestinian who admitted to firing a gun in the direction of a security post at the entrance of Migdal Oz, not hurting anyone.[4] In 2019, an 18-year-old boy, Dvir Sorek, was stabbed to death in the settlement by two Palestinian men.[5]

Economy

Its main agricultural pursuits include three turkey coops with 16,000 birds apiece, a dairy housing 260 cows that is among the largest in the country, and fruit orchards. Along with neighbouring Gush Etzion, Rosh Tzurim, and Kfar Etzion, Migdal Oz jointly farms six square kilometers of olive groves near Kiryat Malakhi and Lakhish in the shfelah.

Migdal Oz is also home to some high tech and light industry. The eponymous Migdal Oz seminary, an advanced women's beit midrash, was opened in 1997 in the Kibbutz

References

  1. ↑ "Regional Statistics". Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  2. ↑ "The Geneva Convention". BBC News. 10 December 2009. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
  3. ↑ Bitan, Hanna: 1948-1998: Fifty Years of 'Hityashvut': Atlas of Names of Settlements in Israel, Jerusalem 1999, Carta, p.37 ,ISBN 965-220-423-4 (in Hebrew)
  4. ↑ Yoel Goldman (January 14, 2013). "IDF arrests Palestinian who fired at kibbutz". The Times of Israel. Retrieved April 16, 2013.
  5. ↑ "At scene of terror attack, Netanyahu vows Israel will 'settle the score'". The Times of Israel. 8 August 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2019.


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