Shvut Rachel (Hebrew: שבות רחל) is an Israeli settlement and a city in the West Bank, located 30 miles (45 km) north of Jerusalem.[1] Shvut Rachel is located in the Shiloh area in Binyamin. Nearby Israeli settlements include Shilo, Giv'at Har'el, Esh Kodesh, Keeda, and Adei Ad. The village, administrated by the Matte Binyamin Regional Council, has a population of 100 families. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.[2]
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The village was founded in November 1991 in memory of the victims of a terrorist attack on a civilian bus - Rachela Druk of Shilo, a mother of 7, and Yitzhak Rofe, the bus driver - who were on their way to a demonstration in Tel Aviv. On the night of the funerals, a group of students from the yeshiva in Shilo as well as two young couples, including a pregnant woman who gave birth a week later, established Shvut Rachel.
Like all Israeli settlements in the Israeli-occupied territories, Shvut Rachel is considered illegal under international law, though Israeli disputes this. The international community considers Israeli settlements to violate the Fourth Geneva Convention's prohibition on the transfer of an occupying power's civilian population into occupied territory. Israel disputes that the Fourth Geneva Convention applies to the Palestinian territories as they had not been legally held by a sovereign prior to Israel taking control of them.[2] This view has been rejected by the International Court of Justice and the International Committee of the Red Cross.[3]
Binat is a midrasha located in Shvut Rachel. Headed by Rabbi Ronen Tamir, it was founded in 2000 as an additional branch of the nearby yeshiva in Shilo. It includes a regular seminary program, a one month program in September for college students, and a joint program with Beit Vegan Teachers College. It is associated with the Talpiot College of Education.
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