Israeli settlement in the West Bank
Place in Judea and Samaria Area
Rimonim (Hebrew: רִמּוֹנִים, רימונים), is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank. Located on the Allon Road, about a twenty-minute drive east from Jerusalem, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Binyamin Regional Council. In 2021 it had a population of 715.[1]
The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.[2]
Etymology
The village is named after the biblical Rock of Rimmon (present-day Rammun). The name comes from the Book of Judges: "But six hundred men turned and fled toward the wilderness unto the rock of Rimmon, and abode in the rock of Rimmon four months" (Judges, 20:47).
History
According to ARIJ, Israel confiscated 393 dunam of land from the nearby Palestinian town of Taybeh in order to construct Rimonim in 1977.[3]
Rimonim was established in 1977 (20 Shevat 5737) as a temporary pioneer Nahal military outpost. Three years later in 1980 (on 4 Tishrei 5741), it moved to the current location, demilitarized and turned over to residential purposes non-religious Jewish Israelis with help from the Amana settlement organization. In the mid-2000s the village allowed religious Jews to move in. Until then, it had been almost exclusively secular in nature.[citation needed]
Services provided include a synagogue, half-Olympic sized swimming pool, post office, nursery, kindergarten, mikveh, library, basketball court, and youth centre.[citation needed]
At the edge of town, there is a look-out point, from which one can view the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea.[citation needed]
The town has ancient Roman and Byzantine ruins.[4][5]
