Kanaf
{{short description|Israeli settlement in the Golan Heights}}
{{pp|small=yes}}
{{use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{Infobox Israel village
| name = Kanaf
| image = Kanaf067a.jpg
| imgsize = 250px
| hebname = {{Script/Hebrew|כָּנָף}}
| meaning = Wing
| founded = 1985
| founded_by =
| region = Golan Heights
| district = north
| country =
| council = Golan
| affiliation = Moshavim Movement
| popyear = {{Israel populations|Year}}
| population = {{Israel populations|Kanaf}}
| population_footnotes = {{Israel populations|reference}}
| pushpin_map = Syria Golan#Israel Golan
|pushpin_mapsize = 250
| coordinates = {{coord|32|52|11|N|35|42|2|E|display=inline,title}}
| website =
}}
Kanaf ({{langx|he|כָּנָף}}) is an Israeli settlement in the southern Golan Heights, organized as moshav shitufi, under the administration of Israel. One of four Golan settlements that overlook the Sea of Galilee,{{cite news|last=Hayoun|first=David|title=Ministerial C'tee Approves 4 Golan Heights Settlements Expansion|url=http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=365129|accessdate=21 September 2012|newspaper=Globes|date=23 August 1998}} it falls under the jurisdiction of Golan Regional Council. The settlement began to be populated in 1991,{{cite news|title=Israel Opens New Golan Heights Settlement|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/22/world/israel-opens-new-golan-heights-settlement.html|accessdate=21 September 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=22 May 1991}} and had a population of {{Israel populations|Kanaf}} in {{Israel populations|Year}}.{{Israel populations|reference}}
The international community considers Israeli settlements in the Golan Heights illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.{{cite news
| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1682640.stm
| title = The Geneva Convention
| publisher = BBC
| date=10 December 2009
}}
History
The establishment of Kanaf was approved by the government in the summer of 1984. In April 1985, members of the settlement group moved to a temporary site at Moshav Eliad for six years. In 1991, they moved to a permanent location near Mazra'at Kanaf (the site of a farm that had about 160 inhabitants when depopulated in 1967).{{cite book |author=Yigal Kipnis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=94_HWZx0s8sC&pg=PA189 |title=The Golan Heights: Political History, Settlement and Geography since 1949 |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=9781136740923 |pages=189, 245}} Some of the residents were veterans of the Israeli Navy.{{cite web|last=Levin|first=Itamar|script-title=he:רווח נקי|url=http://www.icpas.org.il/upload/articles/File/-852.pdf|publisher=Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Israel|accessdate=18 September 2012|language=Hebrew|trans-title=Net Profit|date=August 2008|archive-date=13 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140113145409/http://www.icpas.org.il/upload/articles/File/-852.pdf|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|last=Bekerman|first=Eitan|title=Northern exposure|url=http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/northern-exposure-1.269728|accessdate=21 September 2012|newspaper=Haaretz|date=9 February 2009}}
Ancient synagogue
Near Kanaf, on the west bank of the Kanaf River, are the remains of a Byzantine-era synagogue. Called the Dir Aziz synagogue, it was first described by Laurence Oliphant in 1885. In his report were details of an extant three-meter-high wall, but it is believed to have collapsed in a 1920 earthquake. Features of the synagogue that have survived include a basalt stone floor, remains of eight pillars, and three benches. Archeologists recovered hundreds of Byzantine coins from beneath the floor of the synagogue. Olive presses, s cemetery and what may be a pottery workshop were documented in surveys of the site. In 1998–2004, excavation of the synagogue uncovered a unique basilica structure, an apse and a magnificent bimah.[http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=1830&print=nopic "Excavations and surveys in Israel"]
The synagogue is unlike other Golan Heights synagogues in that when the worshipers faced south they were facing the structure's long wall rather than its wide one. In that regard, the synagogue shares a feature common to synagogues in the southern Hebron Hills.{{cite news|last=Shapira|first=Ran|title=When Golan worshipers faced south|url=http://www.haaretz.com/culture/arts-leisure/archaeology-when-golan-worshipers-faced-south-1.95034|accessdate=21 September 2012|newspaper=Haaretz|date=23 July 2003}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Golan Regional Council}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Israeli settlements in the Golan Heights
Category:Golan Regional Council
Category:Populated places in Northern District (Israel)
Category:Populated places established in 1985
Category:1985 establishments in the Israeli Civil Administration area