Built more than 2,000 years ago to supply Jerusalem with water, Solomon’s Pools have become the center of a modern political dispute, with officials from the nearby Israeli town of Efrat accusing the Palestinian Authority of allowing the historic site to deteriorate after it was placed under Ramallah’s jurisdiction following the 1993 Oslo Accords.
Most archaeologists date the construction of Solomon’s Pools, three ancient reservoirs located between Efrat and Bethlehem, south of Israel’s capital, to the Hasmonean period in the second century B.C. The reservoirs were built to supply water to Jerusalem during the Second Temple period. Herod the Great (37â4 B.C.) later expanded the system to provide water to his palace-fortress at Herodium.
“Solomon’s Pools are not only the history of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel and the source of Jerusalem’s living water, but also the future of Efrat in our ability to exercise our sovereignty, preserve Efrat’s development space and sustain tourism for all religions in the area between Jerusalem and Hebron,” Dovi Shefler, mayor of Efrat, told Fox News Digital.
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The three reservoirs collectively hold approximately 288,000 cubic meters of water, or more than 10 million cubic feet. They are fed by the Arrub and el-Biyar aqueducts, which, together with rainwater, historically supplied Jerusalem with water year-round. During the British Mandate, the pools underwent significant renovations and became known as “Jerusalem’s beach” until the Oslo Accords.
Under the agreements, the West Bank was divided into Areas A, B and C. Solomon’s Pools are located in Area A, which falls under Palestinian civil and security control.
Yonatan Marcus, chief of staff of the Efrat Municipality, told Fox News Digital that during the negotiations, then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin maintained that the pools would remain under Israeli control, alongside other archaeological sites of major Judeo-Christian significance such as Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem.
However, during the mapping process, he said, the words “Solomon’s Pools” remained within Area C on zoomed-out maps, while the reservoirs themselves ultimately mistakenly fell inside Area A.
Marcus said under Palestinian Authority control, things changed for the worse. “When you visit today, you can see that the place is neglected. Much of it has been destroyed. There are signs everywhere in Arabic stating that swimming is not permitted because the pools are filled with sewage water,” he said.
He added that the sewage contamination was not natural, with wastewater deliberately diverted into the pools, replacing the fresh water that flowed there until the Oslo Accords. He said this occurred despite the PLO’s commitment under the agreement to protect historical sites in Area A.
“Our main goal is to protect these magnificent pools. It’s not just about Jewish history; it’s about Judeo-Christian history and whoever believes in the people of the Bible who walked
