Zekharia

Zekharia (Hebrew: זְכַרְיָה, lit. 'Zechariah') is a moshav in central Israel. It sits on the site of the previous Palestinian village of Zakariyya (Arabic: زكريا), whose inhabitants were expelled in 1949 in the wake of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Located near Beit Shemesh, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. In 2024 it had a population of 1,392. Settlement in the area dates back to the Iron Age. During the Roman era a town named Beit Zacharia was located on the hill, which according to legend was the burial place of the prophet Zechariah. By the Mamluk era, it had become a Muslim village, and was known by various names, including Zakariyya al-Battih, Kefr Zakaria, Az-Zakariyya or simply Zakariyya. Although the village had been allotted to the Arab state in the 1947 United Nations proposed partition plan, the area was occupied by Israeli forces during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War and the remaining Arab population was expelled in 1950, after which a new Jewish moshav, now Hebraized as Zekharia, was founded on the site.