Yad Binyamin
יַד בִּנְיָמִין | |
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Etymology: Binyamin Memorial | |
Coordinates: 31°47′50″N 34°49′17″E / 31.79722°N 34.82139°E | |
Country | Israel |
District | Central |
Council | Nahal Sorek |
Founded | 1962 |
Population (2022)[1] | 4,278 |
Yad Binyamin (Hebrew: יַד בִּנְיָמִין, lit. Binyamin Memorial)[2] is a community settlement in central Israel. The seat of Nahal Sorek Regional Council, it is located adjacent to the junction of three major highways: Highway 3, Highway 6, and Highway 7. In 2022 it had a population of 4,278.[1]
Yad Binyamin was founded on the land of the ethnically cleansed Palestinian village of al-Mukhayzin.[3] In the 19th century, the tribe al-Wuhaydat was the first to settle in the village. Al-Mukhayzin was named after grain storage warehouses built in the village, and in 1945 had a population of 330, 220 who were Palestinian and 110 of whom were Jewish.[4][5]
During the Nakba, al-Mukhayzin was assaulted during Operation Har'el by the Giva'ti brigade. Al-Mukhayzin's indigenous Palestinian population was completely expelled by the invading forces, who then obliterated and defaced the emptied village's structures.[4][6]
The land had been used as a Ma'abara Nativa which was abandoned as a religious settlement and educational center in 1962 by Poalei Agudat Yisrael, in partnership with the municipality of Nahal Sorek.[7] It was named after the former Minister of Postal Services, Binyamin Mintz, who had died the previous year.[8] For many years, the community was a center of higher Jewish learning, based around the yeshiva.
Following the disengagement plan, around 200 families from Gush Katif moved into temporary pre-fabricated housing in Yad Binyamin. Some later moved to a new village named Ganei Tal after the former settlement by the same name.[9] Many other families have moved to Netzer Hazani.[10]
The community has a neighborhood, called Ahuzat Yonatan, that is for people ages 55 and older. The neighborhood has approximately 160 apartments as well as a shared building containing a synagogue.[11]
Yad Binyamin is located 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) from the Re'em Junction on Highway 3, and one kilometer from the intersection of Highway 6 and Highway 7. In September 2018, Israel Railways opened the nearby Kiryat Malachi-Yoav station, connecting the area to the Nahariyah–Beersheba line.[12] A number of Egged bus routes provide transport links to Jerusalem, Ashkelon, and other cities.
Kibbutzim | |
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Moshavim | |
Community settlements |