Beit El - Geography and Climate

Geography and Climate

See also: Geography of Israel and Nature reserves of Israel

Beit El has a higher elevation than Jerusalem, and has cool nights in the summer and occasional snow in the winter. The Pisgat Ya'akov neighborhood has a hilltop observatory with a commanding view of the surrounding hills where one may view as far away as the Tel Aviv area and Mount Hermon on clear days.

Northeast of Beit El is the Ma'yanoth Qara' Nature Reserve, so named on account of its proximity to the nearby village of Dura al-Qara'. The nature reserve is the site of five natural springs whose source is a channel carved between overlying cliffs. The limestone formations at the springs are dated to the Cenomanian age. The nature reserve is noteworthy as a habitat for the Hedera helix ivy, not known to grow anywhere else between the region of Edom to the south and the Galilee to the north, as well as the Teucrium montbretii, which grows only in the vicinity of Ramallah.

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