Ir Ovot
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ir Ovot (עיר אובות) is a cooperative agricultural settlement in Israel, located in the northeastern Negev, near the Jordanian border, south of the Dead Sea. It is named for the biblical site of Oboth (Numbers 21:10; Deuteronomy 33:44), one of the places where the Israelite camped after the Exodus from Egypt.
Ir Ovot, also called just Ovot, was founded in 1966 by a group of Messianic Jews. Their religious beliefs led to antagonism with the Israeli authorities charged with settlement, and it took them several years before the community won official recognition. Their supporters included the Israel Defense Forces, which were interested in the establishment of a settlement in this strategic frontier area.
