# Kedumim

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Kedumim (Hebrew: קְדוּמִים, romanized: Kdumim), is an Israeli settlement in the northern West Bank. Founded on Hanukkah 1975 by members of the Gush Emunim settlement movement, it later became a local council. In 2022 it had a population of 4,548.
The consensus of the international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law. The Israeli government disputes this.

## History

According to ARIJ, land from three Palestinian villages was expropriated for building Kedumim in 1967-1993: 231 dunams from Kafr Qaddum, 163 dunams from Immatain, and 13 dunams from Jit.
In late 1974, a group affiliated with Gush Emunim, Garin Elon Moreh, led by Rabbi Menachem Felix and Benny Katzover, attempted to establish a settlement on the ruins of the Sebastia train station dating from the Ottoman period. An Israeli cabinet resolution, passed 17–2 with 3 abstentions, found the settlement illegal in 1975. After several attempts to remove residents from the area by the Israel Defense Forces, an agreement was reached in which 25 families were permitted to move to Kadum, an army camp southwest of Nablus. The small mobile home site developed into the town of Kedumim. The Sebastia agreement was a turning point that opened up the northern West Bank to Israeli settlement.
After the elections of 1977, the government of Menachim Begin strongly backed settlement at Kedumim. Begin visited on 19 May and declared "We stand on the land of liberated Israel." In July, his government granted full legal status to Kedumim (then numbering around 100 settlers), Ofra, and Maaleh Adumim.
Several residents of Kedumim have been killed in Palestinian political violence. Rabbi Binyamin Herling (64), a Holocaust survivor, was killed at Mount Ebal by Palestinian security forces and Fatah members who opened fire on a group of men, women, and children. The Kedumim bombing, on May 30, 2006, occurred when a suicide bomber disguised as an Orthodox Jewish hitchhiker blew himself up inside a car that stopped to pick him up near the gas station at the entrance to the village. The blast killed four Israelis: Rafi Halevy (63), Helena Halevy (58), Re'ut Feldman (20), and Shaked Lasker (16). Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility. On November 19, 2007, Ido Zoldan (29) was killed in a shooting attack near Kedumim when Palestinian militants opened fire on his car.

## Local Council

When Shomron Regional Council was established, Kedumim was one of its villages. In 1992, as the population in Kedumim was over 3,000, a Local Council was established with a mayor from outside – Yosef Kapakh. In 1996 were the first elections, and Daniella Weiss was elected, the first woman in this job in Israel. After two terms in office, in 2007, Hananel Dorani was elected. Dorani is a vice-Brigade commander in reserve in the IDF, living in the village from 1992 after marrying one of its residents. In the 2013 local elections, Dorani kept his job after none was against him. In the 2018 local elections, Dorani won Roee Massuri and kept his job for the third time. In the 2024 elections, following Dorani's retirement, Ozel Vatik was elected as Head of Municipality.

## Education

The residents of Kedumim have placed an emphasis on education and developed several local institutions, including: day care centers, kindergartens, two elementary schools, the Bnei Chayil Yeshiva, the Har Efrayim Yeshiva, the Lehava Ulpana High School (1,000 girls), as well as a local music academy, and a public library.
Yeshivat Bnei Chayil Shomron is a high school yeshiva established in 1998 to provide an Orthodox Jewish education for boys with ADD and ADHD. It is considered a unique facility in central Israel not limited to local students. Students in grades 7–12 are divided into classes which are limited to a maximum of fifteen boys. The school in Kedumim was originally a branch of a Jerusalem school of the same name founded by Stuart Chesner.

## Economy

While many residents work outside the settlement, many are employed locally in education, as well as several agricultural enterprises working with greenhouses and orchards. The Bar-On Industrial Park on 1,200 dunums (120 hectares, 297 acres) of land is within the municipal boundaries of Kedumim. Kedumim 3000, operated by Nahman Zoldan, is a construction firm headquartered in the settlement. The firm has worked on construction projects throughout the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

## Status under international law

The international community considers Israeli settlements a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Israel disputes that the Fourth Geneva Convention applies to these territories as they had not been legally held by a sovereign prior to Israel taking control of them. This view has been rejected by the International Court of Justice, International Committee of the Red Cross and repeatedly by the UN Security Council.
According to B'Tselem, portions of Kedumim were built on privately owned Palestinian land. There are additionally two Israeli outposts adjacent to Kedumim, one of which is also built on privately owned Palestinian land.

## Notable residents

* Daniella Weiss
* Bezalel Smotrich
* Susan Gordon Aviner (1949-2011), former American actress, is interred at Kedumim Cemetery.