The Walworth Barbour American International School in Israel (WBAIS) is an independent, American-curriculum, English-language school. It is composed of a campus with a preschool, elementary, middle, and high school (PK3-12) in Even Yehuda; and the Jerusalem American International School (pre-school through 12th grade).[1]
WBAIS is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools and is a member of the Near East South Asia Council of Overseas Schools. It is the only primary and secondary school in Israel accredited in the United States. It is the largest school in the country that caters to the diplomatic and international community.[2]
WBAIS was established in 1958[1] under the auspices of the United States Embassy[3] and is named after former Ambassador Walworth Barbour, who represented the United States in Israel from 1961 to 1973.[4]
The original 19-dunam (4.75-acre) campus in Kfar Shmaryahu was sold for $21 million in 2005 to real estate developers who planned to build private homes on the site.[5] The school was relocated to a new facility on a 73-dunam (19-acre) plot in Even Yehuda in 2007, after 49 years at the Kfar Shmaryahu campus.[6] As of 2007, enrollment is about 600 students, most of whom live in the Herzliya Pituah area, closer to the original campus.[2][6]
Jerusalem
The Jerusalem American International School (JAIS) is a branch of the Walworth Barbour American International School at the Goldstein Youth Village in Jerusalem, Israel.
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem is an Israeli public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on April 1, 1925. It is the second-oldest Israeli university, having been founded 30 years before the establishment of the State of Israel but six years after the older Technion university. The HUJI has three campuses in Jerusalem, one in Rehovot, one in Rishon LeZion and one in Eilat. Until 2023, the world's largest library for Jewish studies—the National Library of Israel—was located on its Edmond J. Safra campus in the Givat Ram neighbourhood of Jerusalem.
Kfar Saba, officially Kfar Sava, is a city in the Sharon region, of the Central District of Israel. In 2019 it had a population of 110,456, making it the 16th-largest city in Israel. The population of Kfar Saba is nearly entirely Jewish.
Gush Etzion is a cluster of Israeli settlements located in the Judaean Mountains, directly south of Jerusalem and Bethlehem in the West Bank. The core group includes four Jewish agricultural villages that were founded in 1943–1947, and destroyed by the Arab Legion before the outbreak of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, in the Kfar Etzion massacre. The area was left outside of Israel with the 1949 armistice lines. These settlements were rebuilt after the 1967 Six-Day War, along with new communities that have expanded the area of the Etzion Bloc. As of 2011, Gush Etzion consisted of 22 settlements with a population of 70,000.
Ariel is an Israeli settlement organized as a city council in the central West Bank, part of the Israeli-occupied territories, approximately 20 kilometres (12 mi) east of the Green Line and 34 kilometres (21 mi) west of the Jordan border. Ariel was first established in 1978 and its population was 20,520 in 2022, composed of veteran and young Israelis, English-speaking immigrants, and immigrants from the former Soviet Union, with an additional influx of above 10,000 students from Ariel University. It is the fourth largest Israeli settlement in the West Bank, after Modi'in Illit, Beitar Illit, and Ma'ale Adumim.
Efrat, or previously officially Efrata, is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, established in 1983 in the Judean Mountains. Efrat is located 12 kilometers (7.5 mi) south of Jerusalem, between Bethlehem and Hebron, 6.5 km (4 mi) east of the Green Line, at the Palestinian side of the West Bank wall. The settlement stands at an altitude of up to 960 metres above sea level and covers about 6,000 dunam. The international community has largely viewed Israeli settlements in the West Bank, referred to by Israel as Judea and Samaria, as illegal under international law. However, Israel disputes this interpretation and maintains that settlements are legal and consistent with international law, citing historical, legal, and security reasons. This position has been upheld by successive Israeli governments.
Neve Yaakov is an Israeli settlement in East Jerusalem, part of the Israeli-occupied territories, north of the settlement of Pisgat Ze'ev and south of the Palestinian locality of al-Ram. Established in 1924 during the period of the British Mandate, it was depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. The area was captured by Israel in the Six-Day War and a new neighborhood was built nearby, at which time international opposition to its legitimacy began. The international community considers Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this, defining it as a neighborhood within the jurisdiction of the Jerusalem Municipality, which provides all services. The population of Neve Yaakov is 23,300. Neve Yaakov is one of the Ring Settlements of East Jerusalem. The settlement is also the location of the IDF's Central Command for the West Bank, Jerusalem, Sharon, Gush Dan and Shephelah.
Amona was an Israeli outpost in the central West Bank. Located on a hill overlooking Ofra within the municipal boundaries of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council, the village was founded in 1995 on privately owned Palestinian land. As of 2012, its population was around 200. As of October 2013, the outpost lodged 42 families. It was evacuated completely in February 2017 in compliance with a ruling by the Israeli Supreme Court.
Kfar Kama is a Circassian town located in the Lower Galilee of Israel's northern district, located along road 767, that leads from Kfar Tavor to the Kinneret. It is one of the only two Circassian towns in Israel, the other being Rehaniya. The residents of the town are descended from Shapsug tribe exiles from Circassia. In 2008, the town had a population of 2,900.
Lehavim is an affluent town in southern Israel. Founded in 1983 and located in the northern Negev around 15 km north of Beersheba, it is a local council. In 2022 it had a population of 7,219.
Rehelim is an Israeli settlement in the northern West Bank. Located on Route 60, between Kfar Tapuach and Eli, east of Ariel and adjacent to the Palestinian towns of Yatma and Qabalan, it falls under the jurisdiction of Shomron Regional Council. In 2022, it had a population of 1,062. In January 2021, under Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli government decided to legalize the illegal, nearby outpost of Nofei Nehemia, by reclassifying it as a “neighborhood” of the Rehelim settlement, which itself was an illegal outpost that was legalized a few years prior.
Even Yehuda is a town in the central Sharon region of Israel east of Netanya. In 2022 it had a population of 14,365.
Walworth "Wally" Barbour was the United States Ambassador to Israel from 1961 to 1973.
Homesh was an Israeli settlement in the West Bank along Route 60, just south of the Palestinian towns of Silat ad-Dhahr and Fandaqumiya, illegally built over private Palestinian land. The settlement was under the administrative jurisdiction of the Shomron Regional Council. In 2005, the settlement homes were demolished along with three other settlements in the northern West Bank, at the same time as the Israeli disengagement from Gaza.
Yeshivat Har Etzion, commonly known in English as "Gush" and in Hebrew as "Yeshivat HaGush", is a hesder yeshiva located in Alon Shvut, in Gush Etzion. It is considered one of the leading institutions of advanced Torah study in the world and with a student body of roughly 480, it is one of the largest hesder yeshivot in the West Bank.
Silwan or Siloam is a predominantly Palestinian district in East Jerusalem, on the southeastern outskirts of the current Old City of Jerusalem.
Har Adar is an Israeli settlement organized as a local council in the Seam Zone and the Maccabim sub-region of the West Bank. Founded in 1986, it had a population of 4,065 in 2022. It is located near Abu Ghosh and the Green Line on Road 425, approximately 15 kilometers west of Jerusalem. Har Adar is ranked high on the Israeli socio-economic scale, at 9/10. Har Adar was initially built adjacent to the Green Line but is now largely located within the West Bank.
Al-Issawiya is a Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem. It is located on the eastern slopes of the Mount Scopus ridge. To the east and north, it is bordered by Road 1, which connects Jerusalem with the settlement of Ma’ale Adumim; immediately adjoining it to the north, west and southwest are the Hadassah Medical Center, the Hebrew University campus, the Jewish settlement of French Hill and the Ofarit military base; to the south, there is a planned park, the Mount Scopus slopes national park.
Khan al-Ahmar is a Palestinian village located in the Khan al-Ahmar area of the Jerusalem Governorate of the West Bank. In 2018, there were between 173 and 180 Bedouin, including 92 children, living there in tents and huts, upwards of 100 in 2010, with its local school serving the needs of 150 children in the area. Khan al-Ahmar is located between the Israeli settlements of Ma'ale Adumim and Kfar Adumim on the north side of Highway 1, between the junctions with Route 437 and Route 458.
The Branch Office of the Embassy of the United States of America in Tel Aviv is part of the diplomatic mission of the United States in the State of Israel. The complex opened in 1966, and is located at 71 HaYarkon Street in Tel Aviv. It served as the United States Embassy until May 14, 2018, when the seat of embassy was relocated to Jerusalem.
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