Eden Hills (in Hebrew: גבעות עדן, Gvaot Eden) is a community settlement in the process of being established (as of 2022) in the Adulam region, south of Beit Shemesh, near the settlements of Aderet and Neve Michael. The settlement is located in the area of the Mateh Yehuda Regional Council.
History of Eden Hills
Eden Hills is part of the “settlement and security” policy promoted by the late Minister Ariel Sharon, while he was Minister of Housing in the early 1990s. The Israel Lands Administration initiated the establishment of the settlement as part of the “Star Settlements program”, designed to increase the concentrations of the Jewish population along the Green Line (The 1967 border between Israel and the west bank). The establishment of the settlement was approved by a government decision in 1997. The Society for the Protection of Nature (The same one who is responsible for marking the Israel National Trail) opposed the establishment of the settlement on the grounds that the expansion of existing settlements should be preferred over the establishment of new ones and that the establishment of a settlement in the designated area would harm the Judean Mountains ecosystem.
Despite the objections, the planning institutions approved the establishment of the settlement in 2002. In June 2011, a square was inaugurated in memory of the former Minister of Construction and Housing, Zeev Boim, who died several months before.
The real estate developer who was involved in establishing the settlement from the beginning designated it for religious and wealthy Jews from the United States, but today its designation is a mixed community settlement for religious and secular.
In December 2021, the establishment of a local committee in the settlement was approved.
Location – The Adulam Region
The Adulam region is an area between Beit Shemesh and Beit Guvrin, named after the ancient city of Adulam. The Adulam region covers an area of 100,000 square meters.
The region was initially designed with the intention of closing a gap on the Jordan-Israel border in front of Mount Hebron. In 1957, the Israeli government began construction of the settlements and developing the area.
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Current Status
During the last few years, the proceedings for the establishment of the new settlement have continued within the framework of the local committee of Mateh Yehuda. The developers, too, it seems, did a “re-calculation” of their plan and decided that the direction in which they had walked in – creating the Israeli “Beverly-Hills” aimed for rich Jewish Americans – was wrong and yielded no results and that the idea of a community settlement would be easier to implement.
in 2020, the developers released a press release stating the new and updated vision for the new community: “Eden Hills will be a new community in the Judean lowlands. It is a mixed community, made up of religious and secular people, who choose to live together. And will contribute to determining the face of the settlement. “
According to the sales manager, in the first phase, there will be about 450 families in the locality and the founding core members will receive plots of varying sizes, on which ground-level houses, single-family villas, two-family cottages, and two-duplex quartets will be built, starting at NIS 2.3 million.
“The settlement will be established in an area immersed in green, suitable for nature lovers and sports enthusiasts, such as running or cycling in nature. The designated location of Eden Hills, only about seven minutes from the Beit Shemesh train station and shopping centers, is another advantage for future residents.
When will the land be offered? Are there any houses or apartments for sale there right now?