District Judea and Samaria Area Region West Bank Website www.migdaloz.co.il | Council Gush Etzion Population (2015) 439 Founded 1977 | |
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Affiliation Religious Kibbutz Movement Weather 10°C, Wind E at 2 km/h, 77% Humidity | ||
Migdal Oz (Hebrew: מִגְדַּל עֹז, lit. Tower of Strength) is an Israeli settlement and income-sharing community kibbutz in the West Bank. Located in the historic Etzion bloc 7.4 km from the Green Line and west of the Separation Barrier, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gush Etzion Regional Council. In 2015 it had a population of 439.
Contents
Map of Migdal Oz
History
Migdal Oz was established in 1977 on the site of Migdal Eder, a Jewish village destroyed 50 years previously early in the course of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. The name is taken from a Biblical phrase describing God, written in Psalm 61:4 and Proverbs 18:10.
In January 2013, the Israeli Defense Forces arrested a Palestinian who admitted to firing a gun in the direction of a security post at the entrance of Migdal Oz, not hurting anyone.
Economy
Its main agricultural pursuits include three turkey coops with 16,000 birds apiece, a dairy housing 260 cows that is among the largest in the country, and fruit orchards. Along with neighbouring Gush Etzion, Rosh Tzurim, and Kfar Etzion, Migdal Oz jointly farms six square kilometers of olive groves near Kiryat Malakhi and Lakhish in the shfelah.
Migdal Oz is also home to some high tech and light industry. The eponymous Migdal Oz seminary, an advanced women's yeshiva, was opened in 1997.