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Coordinates: 31°55′48″N, 35°13′12″E

This article is about the modern settlement; see Bethel (Israel) for the biblical site.

Bet El
road sign
Hebrew	בית אל
Founded in	1977
Government	Local council
District	Judea and Samaria (West Bank)
Population	5 000 (2005)
Jurisdiction	1 528 dunams (1.5 km²)

Bet El is a religious Orthodox Israeli settlement and local council in the Binyamin region of the Northern West Bank (Samaria). It is located in the hills north of Jerusalem just to the east of the Arab town of Ramallah. Its Pisgat Ya'acov neighbourhood has a hilltop observatory with a commanding view of the surrounding hills where one may view as far away as Tel Aviv and even Mount Hermon on really clear days. It has a higher elevation than Jerusalem and has cool nights in the summer. Occasionally, it snows in the winter.

Civilians first arrived to the Bet El area in 1977 ten years after Israel took control of the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) in the 1967 Six Day War. Several families moved to an Israeli Army base and later split up to settle on nearby hilltops. In September 1997, the two separate settlements were reunited and the new municipality was given the status of local council. About 900 families now reside in the town. Most of them are affiliated with the Religious Zionist Movement.

The chief rabbi of the town is Rabbi Zalman Baruch Melamed who is also the Rosh Yeshiva of the local Beit El Yeshiva. The yeshiva owns and operates Arutz Sheva Israel National Radio which operates out of studios in Bet El and Petah Tikva. Bet El also has a tefillin factory.

In Biblical times, Bethel was the site where Jacob slept and dreamt of the angels coming up and down a ladder. Bethel has been identified with the ruins surrounding the Palestinian village of Beitin ^[1], and with the hilltop site of Pisgat Ya'acov^[2] by a pro-settlement website.

• The Municipality of Bet El (Hebrew)
• Arutz Sheva Israel National News
• Beit-El Winery
• An Israel National News article on Pisgat Ya'acov.

1. ↑  "Bethel" in M. G. Easton, Illustrated Bible Dictionary, T. Nelson and Sons, London, 1894.
2. ↑  Israel National News pro-settlement website.

Judea and Samaria Area
Cities	Ariel | Betar Illit | Ma'ale Adummim
Regional committees	Hebron
Local councils	Alfei Menashe | Beit Arieh | Bet El | Efrat | Elkana | Giv'at Ze'ev | Har Adar | Immanuel | Karnei Shomron | Kedumim | Kiryat Arba | Ma'ale Efraim | Modi'in Illit | Oranit
Regional councils	Gush Etzion | Har Hebron | Matte Binyamin | Megilot Dead Sea | Shomron | Southern Jordan Valley (Biq'at Hayarden)

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