Hundreds of cyclists from around the country participated in Israel’s second annual “Tour de Gush Etzion” event on Friday.
Separate routes were created for professionals, amateur riders and those with special needs, on the backdrop of the region’s springs, cherry orchards and heritage sites.
“We are establishing a unique tradition of cycling and celebrating nature,” said Gush Etzion Regional Council head and Yesha Council chairman Shlomo Ne’eman.
“It is wonderful to meet cyclists from different demographics and population sectors, who have come here to enjoy all the benefits we have in Gush Etzion. We invite cyclists from all over the country to ride among these views all year round. The tracks are marked on the ground and fully explained on our tourist website,” he added.
In April, celebrations were held to mark eight decades of renewed Jewish life in Gush Etzion, a bloc of Israeli communities located in the Judean Mountains south of Jerusalem and Bethlehem.
“The Gush is developing due to your work establishing the Gush that stands strong, and with God’s help, it will stand forever,” Ne’eman told said at an event at the time which took place at Kibbutz Kfar Etzion, the first out of the four original communities established in April 1943.
On May 13, 1948, the day before Israel declared independence, Jordan’s Arab Legion, with the help of local Arabs, massacred 129 Jews at Kfar Etzion following a two-day battle. The site was re-established as a kibbutz in September 1967 as the first Jewish community restored in Judea and Samaria after the territory was liberated during the Six-Day War.
Earlier this year, Israel’s Aliyah and Integration Ministry named Gush Etzion as a top 10 destination for new immigrants, as part of a list geared towards helping immigrants choose a place to live when setting up stakes in the Jewish state.
