Shafir (Hebrew: שָׁפִיר) is a moshav in southern Israel. Located in the Shephelah near Kiryat Malakhi, it falls under the jurisdiction of Shafir Regional Council. In 2022 it had a population of 933.[1]

Shafir
שפיר
شفير
Shafir
Shafir
Shafir is located in Ashkelon region of Israel
Shafir
Shafir
Coordinates: 31°41′48″N 34°43′43″E / 31.69667°N 34.72861°E / 31.69667; 34.72861
CountryIsrael
DistrictSouthern
CouncilShafir
AffiliationHapoel HaMizrachi
Founded15 August 1949
Founded byCzechoslovakian and
Hungarian immigrants
Population
 (2022)[1]
933

History

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Shafir was founded on 15 August 1949 by immigrants from Hungary and Czechoslovakia and was built on land that had belonged to the Palestinian village of al-Sawafir al-Sharqiyya,[2] which had been depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. It was named after the Biblical city of Shafir that is mentioned in the Book of Micah 1:11, which also means "good and beautiful".[3] Today Shafir is made up of a mixture of Czechoslovakian/ Hungarians, and Persians.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Regional Statistics". Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  2. ^ Khalidi, Walid (1992), All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948, Washington D.C.: Institute for Palestine Studies, p. 135, ISBN 0-88728-224-5
  3. ^ Vilnai, Ze'ev (1980). "Shafir (b)". Ariel Encyclopedia (in Hebrew). Vol. 8. Israel: Am Oved. p. 7996.