Beitar Illit (Hebrew: ביתר עילית‎; officially also spelled Betar Illit - Illit is pronounced: Eeleet) is an Israeli settlement and city west of Gush Etzion in the northern Judea region of the West Bank. The settlement was established in 1985 on the land purchased from Nahaleen, Husan and Wadi Fukin Arab villages.^{[citation needed]} It is located ten km from Jerusalem. As of September 2007, it had a total population of 34,427. However, by 2010 according to Pindrus, it will have a population near 100,000 [1] Beitar Illit was the first Haredi town to be established as such.^[1] The city's ideology is based on the desire to have a solely Haredi environment. It also considers itself the revenant and successor to the Ancient Jewish National City of Betar, located 1km from itself. Hebrew redirects here. ... This article is about the year. ... Jerusalem Tel Aviv-Jaffa Haifa Rishon LeZion Ashdod Beersheba Petah Tikva Netanya Holon Bnei Brak Bat Yam Ramat Gan Ashkelon Rehovot The following list of cities in Israel is based on the current index of the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). ... Map of the districts of Israel Population density by geographic region, sub-district and district (thicker border indicates higher tier). ... Judea and Samaria (Hebrew: ‎ Yehuda ve-Shomron , also an acronym יוש Yosh or שי Shai; Arabic: ‎ al-Yahudiyyah was-Sāmarah) are the Biblical terms used to describe the area now more commonly referred to as the West Bank. ... A dunam or dönüm, dunum, donum is a unit of area. ... Hebrew redirects here. ... Map of Israeli settlements (magenta) in the West Bank. ... Jerusalem Tel Aviv-Jaffa Haifa Rishon LeZion Ashdod Beersheba Petah Tikva Netanya Holon Bnei Brak Bat Yam Ramat Gan Ashkelon Rehovot The following list of cities in Israel is based on the current index of the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). ... Tunnel to Gush Etzion Gush Etzion (Hebrew גוש עציון, literally bloc of the tree) is a group of Israeli settlements in the northern Judea region of the West Bank. ... Map of the southern Levant, c. ... Nahaleen or Nahalin(Arabic: ) is a village located in the Bethlehem Governorate to the southwest of Bethlehem in the West Bank. ... For other uses, see Arab (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Jerusalem (disambiguation). ... Haredi or chareidi Judaism is the most theologically conservative form of Orthodox Judaism. ... The term revenant can refer to: A ghost or a zombie Medieval revenants were believed to be corpses who returned to life A computer game under the same title Revenant Records, a label set up by John Fahey One of the monsters featured in the computer game series Doom A... The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination of these attributes. ... This article is about the Zionist youth movement Betar. ...

Demographics

Hachnosas Sefer Torah to the central synagogue in Beitar

According to Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), in 2001, the ethnic makeup of the city was 100.0% Jewish, consisting of 8,900 males and 8,400 females. The predominantly Haredi population of the city was spread out with 62.9% 19 years of age or younger, 18.1% between 20 and 29, 14.6% between 30 and 44, 3.4% from 45 to 59, 0.4% from 60 to 64, and 0.7% 65 years of age or older. The population growth rate in 2001 was 9.6%. According to the statistics from the Ministry of Interior, the population figures for January 2007 there are 34,427 members listed on their computers and 29,404 citizens that are listed as active.^{[citation needed]} Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (הלשכה המרכזית לסטטיסטיקה) is a state organization for the creation and maintenance of numeric data related to populations vis-à-vis the ethnic makeup of Israel and its cities. ... For other uses, see Jew (disambiguation). ...

Income

According to CBS, as of 2000, in the city there were 2,172 salaried workers and 131 are self-employed. The mean monthly wage in 2000 for a salaried worker in the city is ILS 3,079, a real change of 3.6% over the course of 2000. Salaried males have a mean monthly wage of ILS 4,475 (a real change of 7.2%) versus ILS 2,173 for females (a real change of -0.7%). The mean income for the self-employed is 4,438. There are 99 people who receive unemployment benefits and 671 people who receive an income guarantee. 1 sheqel coin (1994–5). ...

Education

According to CBS, there are 26 schools and yeshivas and 3,225 students in the city. They are spread out as 22 elementary schools and 3,019 elementary school students, and 4 high schools and 206 high school students. ..% of 12th grade students were entitled to a matriculation certificate in 2001. All education in the town is religious, as its population is exclusively Haredi.^[2] This article is about the Jewish male educational system. ... Haredi Judaism, also called ultra-Orthodox Judaism, is the most theologically conservative form of Judaism. ...

Achievements

Despite having no industry and minimal commerce, as well as a population that is generally weak economically, Beitar Illit has been awarded the Israeli Interior Ministry's gold prize for a balanced budget seven years running. The municipal welfare department was awarded a prize and recognised by the national government as an "Outstanding department" for its work on preventing teen dropouts. It also received the 2005 national "Flag award" as well as five years of the Council for a Beautiful Israel's "Stars of Beaty" prizes for being one of the cleanest Israeli municipalities, and for community education programs emphasising recycling.^[3] Dropping out means to withdraw from established society, especially because of disillusion with conventional values. ...

Municipal elections 2007

This section does not cite any references or sources. (November 2007) Please improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

In a closely fought election on October 30, 2007, the incumbent Mayor Yitzchak Pindrus was defeated by Meir Rubinstein. Rubinstein, the candidate of certain sections of the Hassidic community, was heavily backed by MK Meir Porush and his allies the Sephardic Shas party. Regarded as a test of the maturity of this ultra-Orthodox enclave, national election observers feel that the election of Rubinstein owes more to backroom deals and power politics than it does to a genuine desire to focus on the welfare of local residents. Rubinstein and Porush have steadfastly refused to make public their pre-election agreement with the Shas party. Rubinstein's campaign relied heavily on Beitar voters heeding the calls of the leaders of the sects allied to Porush, to vote for Rubinstein. The leader of the Shas Party, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef was particularly active in demanding that his followers all support Rubinstein. ^[4] Image File history File links Question_book-3. ...

See also

• Betar (fortress), the last Jewish fort held in the Bar Kochba revolt
• Battir, an Arab village adjacent to Beitar Illit and the Betar ruins.

Betar was the last standing Jewish fortress in the Bar Kochba revolt of the 2nd century AD, destroyed by the Roman army on Tisha Bav. ... Bar Kokhba’s revolt (132-135 CE) against the Roman Empire, also known as The Second Jewish-Roman War or The Second Jewish Revolt, was a second major rebellion by the Jews of Iudaea. ... Battir village Battir (; Arabic بتير) is an ancient village located four kilometers from Bethlehem to the southeast, and Jerusalem to the northeast. ...

External links

• Official site
• Community web site
• Haaretz report on chareidi settlements
• Beitar Illit Bus service web site

References

v • d • e Judea and Samaria Area
Cities	Ariel · Beitar Illit · Ma'ale Adumim · Modi'in Illit
Regional committees	Hebron
Local councils	Alfei Menashe · Beit Aryeh · Beit El · Efrat · Elkana · Giv'at Ze'ev · Har Adar · Immanuel · Karnei Shomron · Kedumim · Kiryat Arba · Ma'ale Efrayim · Oranit
Regional councils	Gush Etzion · Har Hebron · Matte Binyamin · Megilot Dead Sea · Shomron · Southern Jordan Valley (Bik'at HaYarden)