The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.[2]
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.[3]
Located in Migdal Oz is the Migdal OzBeit Midrash which is headed by Esti Rosenberg and operates under the auspices of Yeshivat Har Etzion. The seminary building also houses the women's campus of the Herzog College, which prepares its students for teaching. The college teaches 14 subjects.
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.[4] In 2019, an 18-year-old boy, Dvir Sorek, was stabbed to death in the settlement by two Palestinian men.[5]
Archeology
Mikveh entrance and stairs
Within the area of the Kibbutz is the hill known as Horvat Brachot, where the remains of second templeJewish settlement was found. It includes mikvahs,[6][7][8] hiding caves, ruined houses among them an intact inkwell[9][10] was found from that period. Alongside it are the remains of a Byzantine church dated to the fifth century AD, which includes mosaic floors that are now preserved and displayed at the Israel Museum and The Good Samaritan Museum[11]
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[citation needed] of olive groves near Kiryat Malakhi and Lakhish in the shfelah.
^Bitan, Hanna (1999). 1948-1998: Fifty Years of 'Hityashvut': Atlas of Names of Settlements in Israel (in Hebrew). Jerusalem: Carta. p. 37. ISBN965-220-423-4.
