Kfar Etzion (, lit. Etzion Village) is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, organized as a religious kibbutz located in the Judean Hills between Jerusalem and Hebron in the southern West Bank, established in 1927, depopulated in 1948 by Arab forces and re-established in 1967. It is located 4.7 km east of the Green Line and falls under the jurisdiction of Gush Etzion Regional Council. In , Kfar Etzion had a population of .
The majority of the international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.
History
Migdal Eder (1927–1929)
In January 1927, the Zikhron David society, a group of Orthodox Jews from the Mea Shearim neighborhood of Jerusalem, established a small farming community, Migdal Eder, on land near to the present site of Kfar Etzion. The name was taken from a verse in the Bible, Genesis 35:21, which referred to a tower of the same name.
El haHar company (1933–1936)
The El haHar ("to the mountain") settlement company was founded by Shmuel Zvi Holzmann in 1933. Holzmann bought land (5000 dunams), mostly from Migdal Eder, and leased land from a nearby Russian convent. However workers preparing the site left in 1936 due to the beginning of the Arab Revolt and harassment by local Arabs. The other three kibbutzim surrendered. The inhabitants there were taken as prisoners of war and released nine months later.
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File:The four kibbutzes of the Gush Etzion Bloc (Kfar Etzion, Ein Zurim, Massuot Yitzhak, Revadim) overlaid on the 1943 Survey of Palestine map of Beit Fajjar.jpg|The four kibbutzes of the Gush Etzion at the time of the 1948 war (Kfar Etzion, Ein Zurim, Massuot Yitzhak, Revadim) overlaid on a 1943 Survey of Palestine map
File:PikiWiki Israel 7264 Kfar Etzion water tank in 1943.jpg|Kfar Etzion water tank, 1943
File:Surif 1945.jpg|Kfar Etzion (Kefir 'Etsyon) 1945, 1:250,000
File:כפר עציון - עבודת יעור-JNF001375.jpeg|Kfar Etzion 1945
File:כפר עציון - נוה עובדיה-JNF045374.jpeg|Neve Ovadia library exterior 1946
File:כפר עציון - אולם קריאה בבית נוה עובדיה ע"ש אברהם כץ חבר כפר עציון שנהרג ביום העליה לחניתה.-JNF045375.jpeg|Kfar Neve Ovadia reading hall
File:כפר עציון - מראה חלקי.-JNF045372.jpeg|Kfar Etzion 1946
File:כפר עציון - בהגנה על כפר עציון-JNF032967.jpeg|Kfar Etzion 1947
File:Kfar Etzion 1947.jpg|Kfar Etzion, 1947
File:Kfar Etzion.jpg|Kfar Etzion 1948
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New Kfar Etzion (est. 1967)
In 1967 Israel occupied the West Bank in the Six-Day War. The Israeli cabinet decided to re-establish the settlement of Kfar Etzion despite receiving legal advice that establishing such settlements in occupied territory would be illegal under the Fourth Geneva Convention. A key figure identified with Kfar Etzion's reestablishment after 1967 is Hanan Porat, who lived on the kibbutz as a child prior to its destruction in 1948.
Another figure involved in Kfar Etzion's resettlement is Elyashiv Knohl, a rabbi of the community whose father fought in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War and was captured during the war by the Jordanians. According to Knohl, Kfar Etzion's original settlers were socialists, and members of the kibbutz continue to channel their incomes to a joint account.
The kibbutz also houses: the Kfar Etzion Field School, which organises family trips in Gush Etzion and the wider area ("throughout Judea") and runs a bicycle rental; the "Shokoladshik" chocolate workshops; a dairy coffee house, a hummus restaurant and a café-restaurant.