Efrat is built on hills, and each neighbourhood is called a giva (hill), named after one of the seven species: Gefen, Te'ena, Rimon, Dekel, Dagan, Tamar and Zayit (NBN (opens in a new tab)). The council's street index lists exactly these seven (council (opens in a new tab)). Around Efrat are the yishuvim of the Gush Etzion Regional Council. If you want to weigh them against what matters to you, try the neighbourhood matcher.
The givot by size
Share of Efrat's occupied homes, from the council's 2022 profile (council profile PDF (opens in a new tab)):
| Giva | Share | Homes |
|---|---|---|
| Zayit | 32% | 801 |
| Dekel | 18% | 441 |
| Tamar | 14% | 352 |
| Dagan | 13% | 313 |
| Rimon | 10% | 238 |
| Gefen | 8% | 233 |
| Te'ena | 5% | 130 |
The order they were built
Rimon came first (the first families moved in in 1983), then Te'ena and Gefen. Building in Zayit began in 1996. Dagan started as caravans in 1995 and had permanent homes from 2016; Tamar started as caravans in 2001 and had permanent homes from 2017 (Hebrew Wikipedia (opens in a new tab)). Zayit is the only giva with many multi-storey buildings.
What is where in Efrat
- Rimon: the oldest giva, at the southern end, with a Clalit clinic and the seniors centre.
- Te'ena: the council building, the first commercial centre, Yeshivat Neve Shmuel and the Derech Avot high school.
- Gefen: the matnas, the public library, the sports grounds, Aseh Chayil school and the MAHAR evening urgent-care centre.
- Dekel: the second commercial centre and Orot Etzion Boys, on Sderot David HaMelech.
- Zayit: Efrat Center, Orot Etzion Girls and the Junior Division, and a 12,000 m² central park.
- Tamar: the Mamad Ariel school and a central park.
- Dagan: the Alomim school, where children from religious, traditional and secular homes learn together, and the trails to the Pirim view.
Efrat has three commercial centres: Te'ena, Dekel and Efrat Center in Zayit (Hebrew Wikipedia (opens in a new tab)). Givat HaEitam, a hill east of Efrat with a farm, is inside Efrat's area and eruv but is not one of the seven givot.
The Gush yishuvim
The regional council says it has 24 communities (8 mixed religious-secular, 8 dati leumi, 3 kibbutzim and 2 haredi) and more than 24,000 residents, at about 900 m above sea level, with cold winters and occasional snow (council (opens in a new tab)). NBN names Neve Daniel, Elazar, Alon Shvut, Tekoa and Bat Ayin as the yishuvim with many English-speaking olim (NBN (opens in a new tab)).
- Alon Shvut (1970): grew around Yeshivat Har Etzion, with Herzog College beside it; more than 1,000 households.
- Neve Daniel (1982): the highest in the Gush, about 800 families, a strong Anglo presence per NBN.
- Elazar (1975): founded as a moshav by North American olim; more than 700 families.
- Kfar Etzion (1967): religious kibbutz with the Heritage Centre and the Hatzar HaKfar shops.
- Rosh Tzurim (1969): religious kibbutz with a community neighbourhood; more than 200 families.
- Bat Ayin (1989): rural, Hasidic-leaning community; family counts differ between sources.
- Migdal Oz (1977): kibbutz just south of Efrat, more than 100 families.
- Tekoa (1977): religious and secular together, about 1,200 families, the largest in the Gush.
Family counts are from the council's heritage page (council (opens in a new tab)). Several yishuvim have their own admissions process: Elazar's site lists an admissions committee and an olim absorption committee (Elazar (opens in a new tab)).
