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יקבי
יהודה
Words of the Head of Council
Dear friends,
Throughout history, the vineyards and wineries located in
the area of the Mateh Yehuda Regional Council have been
an inseparable part of the landscape and their memories
are engraved in each and every footstep. Nowadays, in
cooperationwith theregion’swinegrowersandwinemakers,
weareproud torenewanddevelop the local wineproducing
branch, to learn and to emphasize its uniqueness, and to
obtain recognition as Israel’s first official wine region.
The regional wine industry serves as a source of income for
hundreds of families and scores of agricultural farms, and as
a touristic anchor for owners of businesses and attractions.
Wine is part of the culture uniting the Regional Council’s
settlements and each and every day anew, hundreds of
winemakers, growers and farmers all over Mateh Yehuda,
fulfill the “Wine Region” vision, with joy, born of creativity.
Tens of wineries throughout Mateh Yehuda have of late
become a household name in the Israeli wine industry and
the vine growing areas within it are among the finest in the
state of Israel. The Mateh Yehuda wine route is a flourishing
and prospering enterprise, considered the Flagship Project
of the entire region and a source of Israeli international
pride.
I invite you to experience, taste and feel all that our unique
region offers, to meet the inhabitants, to be impressed by
historic and archaeological sites, by the scenery and trails,
and to visit the wineries, restaurants and attractions.
Brief background on the region and the regional council:
TheMateh Yehuda Regional Council is the sole council in the
Jerusalem district and one of the largest regional councils
in Israel.
Thecouncilencompasseswithinit57settlementsMoshavim,
Kibbutzim, Communal settlements, Arab settlements, a joint
Jewish-Arab community, agricultural farms and convents.
The council area is home to some of Israel’s loveliest parks
and forests, through its center runs the highway connecting
JerusalemandTel Aviv, and it serves as the green lung of the
country’s center.
Most of the council’s jurisdiction is part of thebiblical Judean
heritage
.
The council’s emblem exhibits the lion mentioned in Jacob’s
blessing: “You are a lion’s cub, Judah; you return from the
prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a
lioness-who dares to rouse him?” (Genesis, Chapter 49, 9).
The Mateh Yehuda population includes diverse inhabitants
who have arrived from multiple nations and true to this
date, about 60,000 people reside within its limits.
Yours truly,
Niv Vizel
Head of the Mateh Yehuda Regional Council