Efrata 4.97

Efrat, or previously officially Efrata, is an Israeli settlement established in 1983 and a local council in the Judean Mountains of the West Bank. Efrat is located 12km south of Jerusalem, between Bethlehem and Hebron, 6.5km east of the Green line, inside of the Security Barrier. The settlement rises to a height of 960m above sea level and covers about 6,000 dunam (1,500 acres). The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.Considered the capital of Gush Etzion, it had a population of in. Although geographically located within Gush Etzion, it is independent from the Gush Etzion Regional Council, and Palestinians in negotiations do not consider it as part of that block, since it lies to the east of Route 60 — their side of the Geneva Initiative map. Since November 2008, Oded Ravivi, an attorney and lieutenant colonel in the army and member of the Likud Central Committee is the head of Efrat regional council.