Beit El
In 1970, private Palestinian land of al-Bireh and Dura al-Qar was seized by military order for a military outpost and later on consigned to settlers for the purpose of civilian settlement. In 1977, Beit El was established on this land. Seventeen families settled near the Israel Defense Forces base. The settlement consisted of "Beit El Aleph" (Beit El A) a residential religious community in the southern half of Beit El, whose inhabitants worked in the free professions outside the yishuv and "Beit El Bet" (Beit El B), situated on the northern hill around the yeshiva founded by Ya'akov Katz and Zalman Baruch Melamed, partly on private land and partly on land purchased by the