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Photos: Published by Haaretz
Maoz Esther settlement entrance.

Maoz Esther, last week. Separation is observed in all activities. Credit: Moti Milrod

'Ma’aleh Ahuvia' is the name of a memorial outpost built by several of Sandak’s friends, near the site of the accident. Credit: Moti Milrod

Elisha Yered, right, a former resident of Maoz Esther and a prominent hilltop activist is seen next to his father, Shai Yered, at the Shalhevet-Ya outpost.Credit: Moti Milrod

In one instance, security forces were stoned after the area of the Kumi Ori outpost (pictured in 2019) was declared a closed military zone. Credit: Tomer Appelbaum

Israeli police use water cannons to disperse West Bank Jewish settler youth during a protest against police after the death of Ahuvia Sandak in Jerusalem, Saturday, Jan. 2, 2021. Credit: Ariel Schalit,AP
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by Hagar Shezaf for Haaretz
Jan. 10, 2021

Only a few hundred meters separate the fence that surrounds the settlement of Kokhav Hashahar from a group of four temporary structures. As far as the settlers are concerned, these are friendly neighbors, the members of the small outpost of Maoz Esther. One of them was the home of Ahuvia Sandak, whose parents were among the founders.

Like other illegal outposts, Maoz Esther was built on private Palestinian land. Last month, according to the hottest rumor on the hill, it was scheduled to be evacuated by the Civil Administration on December 22 – not for the first time. It has been repeatedly evacuated and repopulated for over a decade.

But the Civil Administration bulldozers didn’t arrive, perhaps because Sandak, 16, was killed two days earlier during a police chase after hilltop youth allegedly stoned Palestinians near his outpost. Sandak’s death ignited a wave of demonstrations in the West Bank and Jerusalem, some of which turned into violent rioting against Palestinians and their property.

The atmosphere in Maoz Esther is relatively pastoral. A sheep pen and an adjacent temporary structure serve as a kind of living memorial to Sandak. “Ma’aleh Ahuvia” is the new name of the place, a memorial outpost built by several of Sandak’s friends, near the site of the accident. They plan on more. People around them are accustomed to the spread of these sponteanous outposts, and to the strongly felt presence of their residents.

“I feel that wherever I go they’ll come to evict me,” says Amad Abu Alya, a shepherd from the village of Almughair. He says outposts residents near Kokhav Hashahar routinely harass him to prevent him from grazing his sheep. In April, he said, a group of boys beat him and his sheep with clubs. Another time, soldiers fired pepper spray at his feet to chase him away from the grazing area. He’s convinced that settlers summoned them.

A sterile area


An improvised sign, surrounded by stones, welcomes visitors to Maoz Esther, followed by the declaration “On the way to Greater Israel” at the bottom. The area in the hills is relatively spacious. Quite a distance separates the structures, and for good reason. They strictly observe negia (touch), the prohibition against physical contact between men and women.

One building houses six young women. A second has room for six young men. Another two buildings are for young married couples, usually in their late teens. “The place is sanctified,” according to Rabbi Meir Goldmintz, who advised the teenagers how to live with gender separation. “Not only is there no entry to the building of the opposite sex, but the entire hill is a sterile area: either for boys only or girls only.”

Separation is observed in all activities. Boys doing guard duty are warned against entering the “girls’ hill,” and a married resident delivers messages between them.

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