Otniel

Otniel (Hebrew: עָתְנִיאֵל) is a Jewish Orthodox Israeli settlement in the southern Judaean Mountains, south of Hebron in the West Bank. It is under the jurisdiction of the Har Hebron Regional Council. Approximately 130 families live in Otniel. Israeli settlements in the West Bank are generally considered illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.

History

Otniel, established in 1983, was named for the first biblical judge Othniel Ben Kenaz. Otniel is south of Beit Hagai and north of Shim'a and the Palestinian village of as-Samu. Yeshivat Otniel, a hesder yeshiva, is jointly headed by Rabbi Binyamin Kalmanzon and Rabbi Re'em HaCohen. The yeshiva also has an overseas program that attracts students from Australia and the United States.

Arab-Israeli conflict

In December 2002, four students were killed and ten were wounded in a terrorist attack on the yeshiva. In November 2011, an Otniel resident, Rabbi Dan Martzbach, was killed, and two women were wounded, when an Israel Defense Forces patrol, on alert for suspected terrorists, fired on their car as they drove to the Cave of the Patriarchs to pray in the early hours of the morning. In January 2016, a Palestinian entered the home of a woman, Dafna Meir, and stabbed her to death in front of three of her children.