Migdalim

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Migdalim is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, about 45 kilometers east of Tel Aviv, near the Palestinian village of Qusra. It is a community settlement under the Shomron Regional Council and had about 700 residents in 2023.

The settlement started in 1984 as a Nahal military outpost and became a civilian community in 1986 for non-Orthodox Jewish Israelis. The international community considers West Bank settlements illegal under international law, while Israel disputes this. Some groups, like ARIJ, say land was taken from nearby Palestinian villages to build Migdalim. The location was chosen to form a line of settlements along the Trans-Samaria Highway between Kfar Tapuah and Ma’ale Efrayim.

In 2006, Eldad Abir, a Migdalim resident, was killed at a gas station, with responsibility claimed by the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades. Between 2012 and 2017, many new residents moved in, shifting the town from mostly secular to a mixed community with religious and nonreligious residents, though the majority still leans religious. In December 2017, tensions with the nearby town of Qusra drew attention to internal disputes in Migdalim, and a residents’ group called “Saving Migdalim” formed to protest changes to the town’s atmosphere.