Shekef

Shekef ( _he. שקף) is a moshav in south-central Israel, just west of the Green Line. It falls under the jurisdiction of Lakhish Regional Council. It was founded by the Herut movement with Betar and the Jewish Agency.

The community was founded in 1981 in an attempt to inhabit the region around the green line as part of the Stars Plan of Ariel Sharon for the extension of Jewish settlement in the line between Mount Hebron, which has many Palestinian villages, and the region west of it.

The village is located southeast of Kiryat Gat and west of Hebron. Its population as of 2006 is 300 residents. The moshav is located in a place with a very beautiful view in the border between the mountain and the desert and is found in a natural reserve. The moshav is surrounded by a natural forest and wildflowers. The moshav grows mainly grapes for eating and vegetables in a greenhouse.

In 2006 a caravan village was founded near the community. The "Mirsham" nucleus lives there; it consists mainly of evacuees from Tel Katifa who lived in Gush Katif in the Gaza Strip until disengagement in 2005.

The name "Shakaf" is taken from the older village Umm al-Shakaf, located near the current moshav.

About 500 meters east of the community, beyond the Israeli West Bank barrier, is the Palestinian village of Beit Awwa.

External links

* [http://news.walla.co.il/?w=//900351 Shekef moshav members protest the reduction in number of foreign workers] Walla News, 4 May 2006