Rimonim

Israeli settlement in the West Bank

Place in Judea and Samaria Area

Rimonim 31°56′03″N 35°20′24″E / 31.93417°N 35.34000°E / 31.93417; 35.34000
District	Judea and Samaria Area
Council	Mateh Binyamin
Region	West Bank
Affiliation	Agricultural Union
Founded	1977
Founded by	Nahal
Population (2022)^[1]	707

Rimonim (Hebrew: רִמּוֹנִים, רימונים), is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank. Located on the Allon Road, about a twenty-minute drive east from Jerusalem, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Binyamin Regional Council. In 2022 it had a population of 707.^[1]

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

Etymology

The village is named after the biblical Rock of Rimmon (present-day Rammun). The name comes from the Book of Judges: "But six hundred men turned and fled toward the wilderness unto the rock of Rimmon, and abode in the rock of Rimmon four months" (Judges, 20:47).

History

According to ARIJ, Israel confiscated 393 dunam of land from the nearby Palestinian town of Taybeh in order to construct Rimonim in 1977.^[3]

Rimonim was established in 1977 (20 Shevat 5737) as a temporary pioneer Nahal military outpost. Three years later in 1980 (on 4 Tishrei 5741), it moved to the current location, demilitarized and turned over to residential purposes non-religious Jewish Israelis with help from the Amana settlement organization. In the mid-2000s the village allowed religious Jews to move in. Until then, it had been almost exclusively secular in nature.^{[citation needed]}

Services provided include a synagogue, half-Olympic sized swimming pool, post office, nursery, kindergarten, mikveh, library, basketball court, and youth centre.^{[citation needed]}

At the edge of town, there is a look-out point, from which one can view the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea.^{[citation needed]}

The settlement includes the ancient Roman and Byzantine ruins of Khirbet El Kiliya.^[4]^[5]

Notable residents

Amihai Eliyahu (born 1979), Otzma Yehudit politician; Minister of Heritage since 2022^[6]

References

^ ^a ^b "Regional Statistics". Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
^ "The Geneva Convention". BBC News. 10 December 2009. Retrieved 27 November 2010.
^ Et Taiyiba Town Profile (including Badiw al Mu’arrajat Locality), ARIJ, p. 21
^ "מה: אתר ארכאולוגי איפה: רימונים". Gobinyamin.org.il. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
^ google.com/maps
^ Ido Ben Porat (21 August 2022). "Rabbi Amihai Eliyahu joins Otzma Yehudit". Arutz Sheva. Retrieved 20 November 2022.