Yitzhar
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Yitzhar יִצְהָר |
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 Yitzhar
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| Coordinates: 32°10′5.16″N 35°14′10.67″E / 32.1681000°N 35.2362972°ECoordinates: 32°10′5.16″N 35°14′10.67″E / 32.1681000°N 35.2362972°E | |
| District | Judea and Samaria Area |
| Council | Shomron |
| Region | West Bank |
| Affiliation | Amana |
| Founded | 1984 |
| Founded by | Amana |
| Population (2015) | 1,380 |
Yitzhar (Hebrew: יִצְהָר) is an Israeli settlement located in the West Bank, south of the city of Nablus, just off Route 60, north of the Tapuach Junction. The predominantly Orthodox Jewish community falls under the jurisdiction of Shomron Regional Council. In 2015, it had a population of 1,380.
The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.
The New York Times has described Yitzhar as "an extremist bastion on the hilltops commanding the Palestinian city of Nablus ... [where] a local war is ... being waged". The inhabitants of Yitzhar have a reputation as being among the most extreme Israeli settlers, and regularly clash with members of the Israeli security forces and local Palestinian civilians. The settlement is at the forefront of the settler movement's so called "price tag" policy, which calls for attacks against Palestinians in retaliation for actions of the Israeli government against West Bank settlements. In May 2014, Shin Bet said the price-tag hate crimes were mainly attributable to about 100 extremist youth, mostly from Yitzhar, acting on ideas associated with rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburg at the community's Od Yosef Chai yeshiva.
The settlement was originally established in 1983 as a pioneer Nahal military outpost, and de-militarized a year later, when turned over to residential purposes in 1984 with the assistance of Gush Emunim's settlement organization, Amana. The settlement continuously grew from a population of 200 in 1994 to almost 400 in 2002, and reached a population of 895 in 2009, predominantly strictly religious Jewish settlers.
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