JNS
The strategic Shdema community will connect eastern Gush Etzion to Jerusalem.
The Gush Etzion Regional Council, which administers the bloc of Judea Jewish communities south of Jerusalem, on Thursday announced the establishment of a new village near the Arab city of Bethlehem.
The first temporary homes of the strategic Shdema outpost, which will connect eastern Gush Etzion to Jerusalem, were placed at the site on Wednesday night in the presence of council head Yaron Rosenthal.
“Last night, we established a new town in Gush Etzion: Shdema Beit Lechem—near Bethlehem," Rosenthal said. "For 2,000 years, Jews prayed to return to Bethlehem, and now we have merited it.
"We have merited to return to the city of Rachel our Matriarch, of King David—a community that will strengthen the connection between eastern Gush Etzion and Jerusalem," continued the council head.
"Today, we returned home to Beit Lechem. Congratulations to Gush Etzion, to the settlement enterprise and to the new families building their homes in the community of Shdema," Rosenthal said.
Shdema previously hosted an Israel Defense Forces base; it was abandoned in 2006. The area lies in Area C under full Israeli military control, around three miles from southeastern Jerusalem's Har Homa neighborhood and five miles from the Gush Etzion village of Tekoa.
Archaeological findings show that the area of Shdema was heavily populated by Jews during the First Temple era and resettled in the Second Temple period. Remains from the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and Mamluk periods have been found at the site.
In addition, according to historical accounts, the Hasmoneans fought and won their final battle against the Seleucid Empire near Shdema.
On Monday, Israeli security forces dismantled the unauthorized Jewish outpost of Tzur Misgavi in Gush Etzion, displacing 25 families.
The evacuation of the hilltop was ordered by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (Religious Zionism Party), who also oversees civilian matters in Judea and Samaria, at Rosenthal's request, according to Smotrich.
The residents had built their homes in the area without coordination with the state, according to Rosenthal, who accused them of seizing lands allocated for the construction of thousands of housing units.
Israel Ganz, chairman of the Yesha Council umbrella organization of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, also expressed support for the evacuation, telling the Kan News broadcaster: "Where this place is located, there are three nearby communities. A group came and said, 'I don't care about these communities or what the state is planning.'"
Communities in Judea and Samaria "exist to serve Israel, not to create real estate assets for anyone," said Ganz, who also heads the Binyamin Regional Council of Israeli communities across southern Samaria.
