Merkaz Shapira colony

Merkaz Shapira is a religious settlement located in the southern region of Palestine, between Kiryat Malakhi and Ashkelon. It was established in the early 1950s as the Shafir Regional Center, comprising a group of regional educational facilities built on land belonging to the depopulated Palestinian village of al-Sawafir al-Gharbiyya. In 1958, it was merged with the Dganim farm, which had been abandoned due to its failure.

In October 1957, the name was changed to Merkaz Shapira in honor of Knesset member Haim-Moshe Shapira, who had been injured in a hand grenade attack. However, due to legal issues, the name change was not officially recognized until 1970.

Merkaz Shapira includes a religious school called “Or Etzion,” which consists of a high school and post-secondary religious institutions located at its eastern end, as well as an elementary and middle school that serves both the settlement and nearby communities (Azrikam, Ein Tzurim, Masu’ot Yitzhak, Shafir, Shtulim, and Zerahia). The offices of the Shafir Regional Council are also located within the settlement.

As of 2022, the population of the settlement was 2,801.

Sources:
Due to the limited availability of Arabic sources, Hebrew sources were used: the settlement’s official Hebrew website, the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics.
Regarding the village of al-Sawafir al-Gharbiyya, the source used is “Palestine Remembered.”