Population (2015) 124 | Affiliation Agricultural Union Founded 1972 | |
Weather 7°C, Wind NE at 5 km/h, 64% Humidity | ||
Neve Ativ (Hebrew: נְוֵה אַטִי"ב), is a small Alpine-styled Israeli settlement and moshav in the Golan Heights. Located on the slopes of Mount Hermon, 2 kilometers (1.2 mi) west of Majdal Shams. it falls under the jurisdiction of Golan Regional Council. In 2015 it had a population of 124
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Map of Neve Ativ
The international community considers Israeli settlements in the Golan Heights illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.
Ski resort
The moshav's main industry is tourism. Neve Ativ operates the nearby Mount Hermon ski resort, which has 25 kilometers (16 mi) of ski runs on the slopes of the 9,232 feet (2,814 m)-above-sea-level Mount Hermon. The resort was destroyed in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, but re-opened the following year.
Frank Riley wrote in the Los Angeles Times in 1981: "This is a mountain and an experience that should happen at least once in every skier's lifetime." The ski season lasts three months, on average (December–March). In one weekend in January 2000, the ski site had 11,000 visitors. Later that month, the leaders of Neve Ativ expressed a hope to turn the ski resort into a joint Israeli-Syrian venture, with ski slopes on both sides of the ceasefire line.
History
Israel and Syria fought major battles in the area in 1967 and 1973, and it remains a strategic military position. Neve Ativ was built on the land of the destroyed Syrian village of Jubata ez-Zeit. It was founded in 1972, when the Golan region was a part of the Israeli Military Governorate, governed by military occupation system. The name Ativ is an acronym for four fallen soldiers from the Egoz Reconnaissance Unit killed in action in the Golan: Avraham Hameiri, Tuvia Ellinger, Yair Elegarnty, and Binyamin Hadad. Neve means Oasis.
In 1981, the area of Golan was unilaterally annexed by Israel, abolishing military occupation system and imposing Israeli civil rule on the area. In November 1996, a dining room in the settlement was set on fire and the walls on the building had "Down With the Occupation" and "The Golan Belongs to Syria" painted on them. Pro-Syrian Druze were believed to be behind it.