Hemed

Hemed is a religious Zionist moshav located in the central region of occupied Palestine, near the Or Yehuda colony. During the 18th and 19th centuries, the area formed part of the Nahiya of Lydda, which extended from the present-day city of Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut in the south to El'ad in the north, and from the eastern foothills across the Lydda Valley to the outskirts of Jaffa in the west. The moshav was established in 1950 on the lands of the depopulated Palestinian village of Bayt Dajan, by demobilized soldiers from the Israeli occupation forces who had immigrated from Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Romania. The name "Hemed" is an acronym for  (Hebrew: חֲייִלִים מְשֻׁוחְרֲרִים דָּתִיִּים), meaning “Religious Demobilized Soldiers.” Initially, the Zionist settlers engaged in agricultural activities. However, much of the moshav’s land is now leased for warehouses and industrial facilities. As of 2022, the settler population in Hemed was approximately 1,360. Sources: Due to the limited availability of Arabic-language sources, “Hebrew” sources were used:

• The official Hebrew website of the moshav

• The “Israeli” Central Bureau of Statistics

• Information on the village of Bayt Dajan from the website