Har Amasa

Moshav in southern Israel

Place in Southern, Israel

Har Amasa

הר עמשא
هار عماسا

Har Amasa

Coordinates: 31°20′36″N 35°6′6″E﻿ / ﻿31.34333°N 35.10167°E﻿ / 31.34333; 35.10167
Country| Israel
District| Southern
Council| Tamar
Affiliation| Agricultural Union
Founded| 1983
Founded by| Gush Emunim
Population

(2023)[1]

| 232
Website| www.amasa.co.il

Har Amasa (Hebrew: הַר עֲמָשָׂא, lit. Mount Amasa) is a Moshav shitufi in the south of Israel. Located near the Yatir Forest 20 kilometres south of Hebron and 14 km northwest of Arad, it is the only member of the Tamar Regional Council to be located in the highlands outside the Jordan Rift Valley. In 2023 it had a population of 232.[1]

It was named after the nearby Mount Amasa (859 m), which was in turn named after Amasa son of Ithra the Israelite (2 Samuel 17:25).[2]

## History

[edit]

The village was founded as a kibbutz of the United Kibbutz Movement on June 30, 1983.[3] However, gradually changed its character over the next 20 years. In 2003, it was transferred to the authority of the Agricultural Union movement, and it was preparing to expand to include many new residents in a less formal framework, while still preserving its social fabric.

In 2006, Ynet reported that five families in the kibbutz were undergoing a religious conversion through Chabad. According to certain members of the kibbutz, the reason was that they were abandoned by the Kibbutz Movement that purposely kept their status as a "kibbutz under construction" in order to receive its funding. The movement denied the allegations and stated that the religious converts were new residents.[4] In 2006, the kibbutz members sent a petition to the High Court of Justice to transfer the village's administration to them and remove the "under construction" status, instead of being administered by the Kibbutz Movement.[5]

In 2021 the village had 50 families, defined itself as an ecological, secular moshav shitufi and was accepting new families.[6]

## Climate

[edit]

Har Amasa has a semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification: BSk). The average annual temperature is 17.1 °C (62.8 °F), and around 330 mm (12.99 in) of precipitation falls annually.

Climate data for Har Amasa

Month  | Jan  | Feb  | Mar  | Apr  | May  | Jun  | Jul  | Aug  | Sep  | Oct  | Nov  | Dec  | Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)  | 13.3
(55.9)  | 14.3
(57.7)  | 17.6
(63.7)  | 21.9
(71.4)  | 26.6
(79.9)  | 29.1
(84.4)  | 30.3
(86.5)  | 30.5
(86.9)  | 28.8
(83.8)  | 26.2
(79.2)  | 20.9
(69.6)  | 15.3
(59.5)  | 22.9
(73.2)
Daily mean °C (°F)  | 9.1
(48.4)  | 9.8
(49.6)  | 12.3
(54.1)  | 15.7
(60.3)  | 19.8
(67.6)  | 22.1
(71.8)  | 23.6
(74.5)  | 23.8
(74.8)  | 22.2
(72.0)  | 19.7
(67.5)  | 15.6
(60.1)  | 10.9
(51.6)  | 17.1
(62.7)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)  | 5
(41)  | 5.4
(41.7)  | 7
(45)  | 9.5
(49.1)  | 13
(55)  | 15.2
(59.4)  | 16.9
(62.4)  | 17.2
(63.0)  | 15.6
(60.1)  | 13.3
(55.9)  | 10.3
(50.5)  | 6.6
(43.9)  | 11.3
(52.3)
Average precipitation mm (inches)  | 78
(3.1)  | 67
(2.6)  | 57
(2.2)  | 16
(0.6)  | 4
(0.2)  | 0
(0)  | 0
(0)  | 0
(0)  | 0
(0)  | 6
(0.2)  | 40
(1.6)  | 62
(2.4)  | 330
(13.0)
Source: [7]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "Regional Statistics". Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 11 August 2025.
2. ^ HaReuveni, Immanuel (1999). Lexicon of the Land of Israel (in Hebrew). Miskal - Yedioth Ahronoth Books and Chemed Books. p. 258\. ISBN 965-448-413-7.
3. ^ "Har Amasa". Or Movement. Archived from the original on 2016-01-21. Retrieved 2009-06-19.
4. ^ הר עמשא: הקיבוץ חוזר בתשובה [Har Amasa: The Kibbutz is Turning Orthodox] (in Hebrew). Ynet. August 26, 2004. Retrieved 2009-06-19.
5. ^ Greenberg, Michal (May 24, 2006). תושבי קיבוץ הר עמשא שבהר חברון עתרו לבג"ץ: דורשים להפסיק להיות "קיבוץ בהתהוות" [Residents of Kibbutz Har Amasa in the Hebron Mountains Petitioned the High Course of Justice: Demand Stopping being Kibbutz Under Construction]. Haaretz (in Hebrew). Retrieved August 14, 2014.
6. ^ "Moshav Har Amasa". Retrieved 2022-01-18.
7. ^ "Climate: Har Amasa". September 2019.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website (in Hebrew)
* At Or Movement's official website (in Hebrew)

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* t
* e

Tamar Regional Council

Kibbutzim|

* Ein Gedi

Moshavim|

* Neot HaKikar
* Ein Hatzeva
* Ein Tamar

Community settlements|

* Har Amasa
* Neve Zohar

Other settlements|

* Ein Bokek

Authority control databases: National |

* Israel

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