Rehelim

Rehelim sits on a hill south of Nablus in the Samarian Hills, north of Jerusalem.[1] The Israel Central Bureau of Statistics assigns it locality code 3822, places it in the Judea and Samaria district, subdistrict of Nablus, and records it as belonging to the Samaria Regional Council.[1] The settlement lies east of the West Bank security barrier.[2] Route 60, the principal north–south transportation artery through the West Bank, passes near the community.[2]

The settlement is described in Israeli travel writing as a religious communal settlement located near what is called the ancient Patriarchs' Way.[3]

Rehelim's establishment began in October 1991 following a terrorist attack on a bus of right-wing activists traveling from Shiloh to Tel Aviv, where a protest against the Madrid Peace Conference was being held.[4] During that attack, Rachel Drouk — a mother of seven from Shiloh — was killed.[4] After her burial, 25 women went to the hilltop where she had been murdered and marked it as a site for future Jewish settlement.[4]

The Israeli army initially resisted the women's request to remain on the hilltop.[4] Authorities eventually permitted them to stay through the seven-day shiva mourning period, and a subsequent agreement with the army allowed makeshift tents to be erected alongside a new military outpost.[4] At that stage there were no permanent buildings, though settlers could visit freely and stay overnight periodically.[4]

Amana, an organization that promotes development of new communities over the Green Line, later decided to establish a permanent presence at the site.[4] The name "Rehelim" — the Hebrew plural of "Rachel" — commemorates not only Rachel Drouk but also Rachel Weiss, who was killed together with her three children in a 1988 Molotov cocktail attack on a bus outside Jericho, and the biblical matriarch Rachel.[4]

Shabtay Bendet, described as one of the settlement's founders, moved to the hilltop with his wife and eight-month-old daughter in fall 1996, aiming to create something "that could not be undone."[4] He helped transport trailers to the site covertly at night, with settlers working to add caravans while evading Israeli soldiers.[4] The settlement is described as the West Bank's first illegal outpost, with the government later accepting its existence after the fact, though only to an extent.[4]

In 2012 a ministerial committee authorized Rehelim, then still formally described as a West Bank outpost, with approximately 45 families in residence at the time.[5] The Jewish Virtual Library lists Rechelim among communities granted official settlement status in 2012.[6] A separate founding year of 2013 appears in both the Jewish Virtual Library's population table and the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics settlement file; the sources do not explain the relationship between the 2012 authorization and the 2013 date, which may refer to different administrative milestones.[7][1]

In 2013 the Israeli government's national-priority map was revised to include Rehelim among West Bank settlements receiving benefits, shortly after the community had been recognized as a legal settlement.[8] The criteria cited for the map included security risk, proximity to a border, establishment date, and distance from major population centers.[8]

In October 2017, the Civil Administration's High Planning Subcommittee gave final approval to plans for 97 housing units in Rehelim.[9] A 2022 Washington Institute report recorded 94 housing units approved and none finalized in 2021.[2] The same report found that between 2015 and 2019, all construction in Rehelim took place at the settlement's edges, steadily expanding its footprint.[2]

When Rehelim was legalized, its defined footprint was drawn to include Nofei Nehemia as an unofficial neighborhood, despite the two areas being approximately 0.95 miles apart.[2] Nofei Nehemia had been established as an outpost in 2002, situated at roughly the midpoint between Ariel and Rehelim, and remained officially classified by the Israeli government as an outpost even after being incorporated into Rehelim's legal boundary.[2]

Rehelim's population has grown consistently since at least 2020. The Jewish Virtual Library reports the following figures: 826 in 2020, 922 in 2021, 1,004 in 2022, 1,197 in 2023, 1,262 in 2024, and 1,321 in 2025.[7] The Israel Central Bureau of Statistics recorded a population of 1,062 in 2022, classifying all residents as Jews.[1] A 2022 Washington Institute report gave a population figure of 915, drawn from CBS, Ministry of Interior Population Registry, and Civil Administration data; the report noted that these sources use differing methodologies and that CBS estimates may be less accurate for small populations.[2]

The resident population is predominantly religious.[5] The community is administered within the Samaria Regional Council.[1]

Tura Winery is among the best-known enterprises associated with Rehelim. Owners Vered and Erez Ben Saadon established the winery in 2003; their vineyards are located in Har Bracha, and the grapes are produced into wine at the winery.[3] The operation produces approximately 100,000 bottles annually, with quality attributed in part to a local terroir at an elevation of 850 meters and exposure to westerly winds.[3]

The settlement also features Ein Eyal, a children's wading pool built in memory of Eyal Yifrah, one of three Israeli youths kidnapped and murdered before Operation Protective Edge.[3] The pool is shaped like a deer and admission is free.[3]

A yeshiva called Pri Haaretz operated near Rehelim under a time-limited agreement signed with the settlement, which allowed it to use land for three years until August 2019.[10] The settlement's secretary noted the yeshiva had been sited just outside the community to reduce friction with residents, including over noise.[10] The yeshiva's presence generated internal disagreement, with at least one resident objecting that it did not fit the community's character.[10]

The broader legal status of Israeli West Bank settlements is contested internationally. Israel's position holds that the West Bank is disputed rather than occupied territory and that civilian settlement there does not violate international law; most other countries regard such settlements as illegal transfers of civilian populations into occupied territory.[11] Rehelim, as a settlement east of the security barrier, sits at the center of this ongoing dispute.[2]

In October 2018, Palestinian resident Aysha al-Rabi died after a large stone was thrown through the windshield of her car near Nablus, fatally striking her head.[12][13] Israeli authorities later arrested five suspects described as yeshiva students from Rehelim; four were conditionally released in January for lack of evidence, while one was arraigned on a manslaughter charge in May and remained under house arrest awaiting trial at year's end.[12] Following an Israel Security Agency investigation, prosecutors announced their intention to indict a minor from Rehelim on manslaughter charges, with the case described as ongoing.[13]

The settlement's connection to the Pri Haaretz yeshiva introduced additional complexity: Rehelim's secretary indicated that the decision on whether to extend the yeshiva's land agreement would take into account the legal outcome of the case involving the yeshiva students.[10]

In October 2023, a Palestinian man identified by Palestinians as Bilal Muhammad Saleh was killed during an olive harvest near Rehelim.[14] The IDF said an initial inquiry indicated that an off-duty soldier had participated in the incident; the Samaria Regional Council said Palestinians had thrown stones at a family from the settlement and that the soldier fired to protect them.[14] Authorities confirmed the circumstances were under investigation, no recording of the confrontation had been found, and the claims of the parties had not been independently verified.[14]