Alon Shvut () is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, established in June 1970 over lands confiscated from the nearby Palestinian town of Khirbet Beit Zakariyyah. It is part of the Etzion bloc of the West Bank, administered by the Gush Etzion Regional Council, and neighbors the Jewish settlements of Kfar Etzion, Rosh Tzurim, Neve Daniel, Elazar, Bat Ayin, Migdal Oz, and Efrat. In , its population was .
The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.
Etymology
Alon Shvut, literally, "oak of return", is a reference to the return of the Jews expelled from Gush Etzion by the Jordanian Arab Legion in 1948 following the Kfar Etzion massacre. The 700-year-old Kermes Oak (Quercus calliprinos) is sacred to the Arabs with the name Ballutet el Yerzeh (oak of Yerzeh). It was a central feature of Gush Etzion and became known as "lone oak". The town was constructed adjacent to the oak, which is considered a symbol of renewal and continuity. The oak is incorporated in the municipal emblem.
Yigal Allon, who sponsored the establishment of the town, claimed that the name was chosen in order to honour him.
History
According to ARIJ, Israel confiscated 920 dunams of land from the nearby Palestinian village of Khirbet Beit Zakariyyah in order to construct Alon Shvut.
Alon Shvut is located on the site of the Battle of Beth Zechariah, fought between the Maccabees and the Seleucid army after the defeat of the Seleucids in Jerusalem. The ancient town of Beit Zakariah, in northern Judea, is identified with the ruins of Khirbet Zechariah, less than a kilometer north of Alon Shvut. It was considered the nearest area to Jerusalem whose topography could be exploited by the Maccabees to block the northward advance of the Seleucid army, after the Maccabee defeat in the Battle of Beth Zur.
Alon Shvut sits on the ancient road to Jerusalem, which is still marked by Roman milestones. Many mikvehs believed to have been used by pilgrims on the way to the Temple in Jerusalem have been found in the surrounding hills. Dozens of ancient grape and olive presses, as well as cisterns hewn out of the bedrock, testify to a long history of agriculture.
The hill at the east end of Alon Shvut is known as Khirbet Beit Sawir (ruins of Beit Sawir) or in recent times Giv'at HaHish. An excavation by Yuval Peleg found a columbarium, a winepress and a ritual bath (mikveh) from the Hellenistic or Roman period. In 1596, Beit Sawir appeared in Ottoman tax registers as being in the Nahiya of Quds of the Liwa of Quds. It had a population of 8 Muslim households and paid taxes on wheat, barley, olives or vines or fruit trees, and goats or beehives. The much larger Arab village of Fagur was nearby to the north-east. In 1838 both Faghur and Beit Sawir were reported as "in ruins or deserted," likewise in the late 19th century.
To the south of Beit Sawir were the remains of a megalithic stone tower of great antiquity but unknown purpose.
The settlement of Alon Shvut was planned by Moshe Moskovic, who had been a member of the Masu'ot Yitzhak settlement in the Etzion Bloc before 1948. The army invited him back to the area in the immediate aftermath of the Six-Day War. He set forth a plan for the reconstruction of Gush Etzion as a regional centre, envisaging a business centre to service agricultural settlement, a tourist centre and educational institutions with dormitory facilities for students from all over the country. The educational structures would consist of (a) a High Yeshiva in a military framework (Nahal), (b) a Jewish study academy, (c) a seminar for activists, and (d) a school for teaching Har Hebron.
Yigal Allon became its political sponsor, and paved the way for the realization of Moskovic's programme, which was designed to replace the demolished Masu'ot Yitzhak with a new community, Alon Shvut. Funding came directly from the government, and from the Rothschild Foundation. Half of the surviving members of the prewar settlements of Masu'ot Yitzhak and Ein Tsurim, preferred not to return. The first settlers moved in on 25 June 1970, and the official founding ceremony was held on 5 July.