Keida

Keida began as an outpost in the Binyamin area of Judea and Samaria in 2003.[1] By 2023, the community had approximately 100 families, many of whom had financed permanent homes and local infrastructure despite uncertainty over its administrative status.[2] In December 2025, the Israeli security cabinet approved the establishment or regulation of 19 communities, including Keida.[5]

Keida was established as an outpost in 2003. Noam Raz, a Yamam counterterrorism officer, was among its founders and later became a significant figure in the community.[1]

In its early years, Keida consisted largely of caravans and improvised infrastructure. For many years it lacked regular water and electricity, and residents eventually organized and paid for construction and development themselves rather than continuing to wait for formal planning arrangements.[2] A 2018 investigation described Keida as an unauthorized outpost without an approved outline plan.[4]

By 2023, Keida had approximately 100 families. Residents said its population included doctors, military officers, and senior figures in industry who had chosen to build permanent homes despite the possibility of evacuation and financial loss.[2]

Noam Raz lived in Keida with his wife, Efrat, and their six children.[6] Following his death in 2022, residents described him as a significant presence in the community and said that, although his operational duties often took him away from home, the connection of Raz and his family to Keida remained deeply felt.[1]

Home construction in Keida required residents to assume substantial financial risk. One family said its 270-square-meter house, including infrastructure and site development paid for from personal funds, cost approximately 1.7 million shekels.[2] The family said Keida's undeclared status prevented it from obtaining a mortgage, requiring the sale of an existing apartment and the use of other loans.[2]

Residents associated this investment with their ideological commitment to the community. One resident said families had placed all their money into building homes despite fears that Keida could be evacuated and their investments lost.[2]

Olive groves planted by Noam Raz are a documented feature of Keida's landscape and early agricultural life. Raz planted dozens of dunams of olive trees by hand and devoted much of his time at home to his family and the groves.[1]

For much of its existence, Keida operated outside Israel's formal planning framework. In 2018, it was described as an outpost whose establishment had not been legally approved and which lacked an approved outline plan.[4] The Mateh Binyamin Regional Council had approved funding for construction in Keida even though the community was outside the council's formal jurisdiction.[4]

On December 11, 2025, Israel's cabinet voted to grant official status to Keida and other previously unauthorized outposts.[3] The decision followed a December 7 Interior Ministry announcement finalizing the legalization of eight additional outposts.[3] A separate report listed Keida among six communities designated for regulation within the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council as part of a decision covering 19 communities across five regional councils.[7]

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich praised the decision as advancing "de facto sovereignty in Judea and Samaria."[3] The move was presented as part of a broader government effort to strengthen Israeli settlement in Judea and Samaria and prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state.[7]

Keida's administrative status changed significantly over time. It was described in 2018 as an unauthorized outpost lacking an approved outline plan, while the Israeli security cabinet approved its establishment or regulation in December 2025.[4][5] The earlier use of public funding for construction outside the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council's formal jurisdiction also drew scrutiny.[4] Keida's regulation forms part of the broader political and international dispute surrounding Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria.[3]