The Hidden Stronghold at Neve Ilan

A spot worth stopping for coffee in the area of Honiot: cross the road and climb a short path until you reach the sign "The Hidden Stronghold Neve Ilan"—the wooden sign tells the story of the settlement and the defense of the place. Climb the stairs to the summit, where the stronghold will appear before our eyes; it is also known as the "Kibbutz stronghold." This is also a spot worth having coffee in. David Ben-Gurion understood that when the State of Israel would be established, a gap would emerge in the territorial continuum needed to defend the road to Jerusalem. The stronghold's location was meant to fill this gap with a continuous line of Jewish settlements that were surrounded by Arab villages. An additional role of these settlements was to protect the road leading up to Jerusalem. In 1946, the Jewish National Fund (KKL) purchased the stronghold's lands from the residents of Abu Ghosh, and then 31 settlers went up to the hill, known as Khirbat ha-Ruhot—Kh. irbat al-Hawwā—and began fortifying it by digging defensive trenches in bunkers in the rocky soil. On Khirbat ha-Ruhot stood a wealthy Muslim house of an effendi. The structure served the pioneers as a residence, dining room, and storage area; beside it were a well and a hidden arms cache (sulīk). During the war, four of the defenders fell, and afterward disagreements and the lack of assistance from the Agency led to the abandonment of the site. In 1953 the place was finally abandoned, and therefore it also disappeared from history—after all, it would be unthinkable to imagine how a Jewish settlement could be abandoned. At the foot of the hill, in 1971, a rural settlement nucleus was established for immigrants from America, which today includes several hundred settlers; at its center is a tourism and leisure complex. To wrap up, return to the gas station: fans of old hits enter the Elvis restaurant, whose statue decorates the courtyard, view a collection of pictures from the life of the great singer Elvis, buy an excellent ice-cream portion, sit facing a view, look toward the parking area of the remains of the armored vehicles of Bab al-Wad, and the view of the Judean Hills on the way toward the Shfela.