Mevo Dotan

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Mevo Dotan (Hebrew: מבוא דותן‎; lit. Dothan's approach) is an Israeli settlement in the northern Samarian part of the West Bank south of the Dotan Valley within the municipal jurisdiction of the Shomron Regional Council. It is named for being on the way to the ancient town of Dothan. The village, situated on road 585 east of Baqa al-Gharbiyye, lies adjacent to the Palestinian village of Yabad. The population of Mevo Dotan is 63 families.

Mevo Dotan was originally established in October 1977 by a group of religious Orthodox and non-religious Jewish Israelis who lived in tents adjacent to the police building of Sa-Nur. The group was relocated to its current permanent hilltop location in June 1981 with the aid of the Amana settlement organization. The local Arab residents had called that hilltop the 'Bald Mountain' (Jabl al-Akra) because of its barren state. One of the reasons for choosing this location was to settle state-owned lands in an area that had no Jewish population. Over the years, many of the religious families moved away.

In 2001, following the outbreak of the Second Intifada, and the degradation of the security level in the area, almost half the residents left the village. The heads of the village committee called for public assistance in repopulating the empty homes and in 2003, the 'Golan Yeshiva' decided to accept the challenge. Several families moved to the village, founded a kollel and rejuvenated the religious life in the village.

[edit] External links

• pictures of Mevo Dotan
• Jerusalem Post: "Hermesh between the crosshairs"
• Peres to Blair: Two West Bank settlements could be evacuated

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