History
Ma'ale Adumim was originally a Nahal outpost. It was designed as a planned community and suburban commuter town for nearby Jerusalem, to which many residents commute daily. In the early 1970s, Israel's Labor government discussed a plan to expand the boundaries of Jerusalem eastward by founding an industrial zone and a workers' village on the Jericho road. In the winter of 1975, on the seventh night of Hanukkah, a Gush Emunim group of 23 families and six singles erected a prefabricated concrete structure and two wooden huts at the site now known as "Founder's Circle" in Mishor Adumim. The group was evicted several times. In 1977, after Menachem Begin took office, Ma'ale Adumim was granted official status as a permanent settlement. Around 1,050 Palestinian Jahalin Bedouins were forcibly moved from the area in the late 1990s when the land was annexed to the settlement.
The chief urban planner was architect Rachel Walden. In March 1979, Maaleh Adumim achieved local council status. The urban plan for Ma'ale Adumim, finalized in 1983, encompasses a total of 35 square kilometers, of which 3.7 square kilometers have been built so far, in a bloc that includes Ma'ale Adumim, Mishor Adumim, Kfar Adumim, and Allon.
The mayor of Ma'ale Adumim is Benny Kashriel, recently elected to a third term by a large majority.
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