Sukot Jumps Into Solomon’s Pools, Prompting a Palestinian Response
The Religious Zionism faction recently paid a special visit, under military escort, to Solomon’s Pools. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said during the tour, “It seems crazy to me that such an important place is in the hands of the Palestinian Authority. We will change that soon and make sure the site is again open to all the people of Israel.”
But the spotlight was stolen by MK Zvi Sukkot, who jumped with great enthusiasm into one of the pools and said, “This place needs to come back into our hands, under Jewish control.”
The next day, Mohammad al-Laham, a member of the Fatah council, arrived, waved a Palestinian flag and filmed a response video from the very same pool. In it, he said, “Neither Smotrich nor any of the settlers can change the identity of this place. Therefore, all of us are required to protect this place and confront the settlement in every way we can. And the relevant responsible bodies should open Solomon’s Pools, especially during the holiday [Eid al-Adha, the Festival of Sacrifice, Y.S.], for all people, without any compensation.”
Solomon’s Pools are three ancient reservoirs located south of Bethlehem, about a 20-minute walk from the Efrat settlement in Gush Etzion. They were built in the Second Temple period to store water and convey it to Jerusalem through an ancient aqueduct that reaches the Temple Mount. Their total capacity reached 288,000 cubic meters. The upper pool was built in the Hasmonean period, and the two lower pools were probably built in Herodian times, though other researchers attribute them to the late Roman period.
Despite their name, the pools have no direct connection to King Solomon. The name was inspired by the verse in Ecclesiastes, “I made me pools of water, to water therewith the forest where trees are nurtured.”
The article says the pools belong to the people of Israel, but remain in Area A because of a technical mapping error in the Oslo Accords. It also argues that if Israeli authorities take over open water sites, they fence them off, charge money, lower the deep pools and issue fines, which harms hikers. The writer says this has happened at Ein Hanatziv, Ein Mevoa, the Tamar Pool in Nahal Prat and Ein Jones, among other sites.
The article concludes by saying the pools should be left under Palestinian control so they remain as they are, while Israelis can still visit occasionally with permission, and praises Smotrich and Sukkot for their roles in promoting water sites in Judea and Samaria.
