Ma'ale HaZeitim is a Jewish Israeli settlement in East Jerusalem, located on the Mount of Olives, near the Palestinian neighborhood of Ras al-Amud. In 2010, its inhabitants numbered some 250 people belonging to 50 families. In 2011 it was projected to house 110 families and eventually merge with the new settlement of Ma'alot David, designed to replace an old police station across the street from Ma'ale HaZeitim, which would make them become the largest Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem. By 2016 Ma'ale HaZeitim was housing about 90 families and the adjacent project, now called Ma’alot David, had 23 housing units. In 2017, construction started on a community center, which will include two synagogues, a kindergarten, a higher learning institution, a library and an event hall, all overlooking the Temple Mount.
Ma'ale HaZeitim
The Mount of Olives or Mount Olivet is a mountain ridge in East Jerusalem, east of and adjacent to Jerusalem's Old City. It is named for the olive groves that once covered its slopes. The southern part of the mount was the Silwan necropolis, attributed to the elite of the ancient Kingdom of Judah. The western slopes of the mount, those facing Jerusalem, have been used as a Jewish cemetery for over 3,000 years and holds approximately 150,000 graves, making it central in the tradition of Jewish cemeteries. Atop the hill lies the Palestinian neighbourhood of At-Tur, a former village that is now part of East Jerusalem.
Aerial photograph of the Mount of Olives
A-Sawane Neighborhood on the Mount of Olives
Olive tree on the Mount of Olives said to be 800–2,000 years old
The Mount of Olives, c. 1899