Alfei Menashe

Alfei Menashe is an Israeli settlement on the western edge of the central West Bank. Built over land confiscated from the nearby Palestinian villages of Nabi Ilyas, Islah, and Ras Atiya, it is located in the so-called seam zone of the West Bank. Its name is taken from the bible. It was granted local council status in 1987. In its population was.
The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank International [law and Israeli settlements|illegal under international law], but the Israeli government disputes this.

History

According to ARIJ, Israel confiscated land from several Palestinian villages in order to construct Alfei Menashe:

The town's proximity to the Green Line and its similar proximity to the Palestinian Arab town of Qalqilyah has made its inclusion on the Israeli side of the Israeli [West Bank barrier|West Bank barrier] controversial, especially as the looping nature of the barrier's path forms a quasi-enclave of some Palestinian villages to its south. In September 2005, Israel's Supreme Court ruled that the government must consider re-routing the barrier in this area. Work was begun in the summer of 2009 to construct a new route for the barrier, which will no longer incorporate the Palestinian village of Ras al-Tira on the Israeli side. The work was finished in 2011.
The settlement is the hometown of Israel's most successful mixed martial artist Noad Lahat.
[Image:Alfe Menashe and barrier.jpg|thumb|none|View from high point of Alfei Menashe, showing the nearness of the separation barrier (right) as of 2006]