What is ‘Herod’s Pool’, and why is Israel developing it in the West Bank?

What Happened

On Sunday, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced that “development and preservation” work had commenced at “Herod’s Pool,” a reservoir in the occupied West Bank village of Fasayil near Jericho. The pool sits on privately owned Palestinian land belonging to farmer Saad Nemer, whose family says it purchased the property more than a century ago; Israeli-issued documentation reviewed by Reuters supports that claim. The pool was filled after settlers diverted water from Nemer’s farm without authorisation, and COGAT, the Israeli military body administering the occupied West Bank, acknowledged the diversion was “without authorisation” and said it would investigate. Nemer said his irrigation pipeline was stolen, his farmland scorched and greenhouses emptied, and that settlers threatened him and beat an employee. Smotrich had pledged more than 3 million shekels (almost $1m) in June to develop the site. Settlers named the pool after Herod the Great, but archaeologists have not established when it was built; Alon Arad of Emek Shaveh said the origins are unclear.

Key Actors

Why It Matters

The development is part of what Palestinians describe as a comprehensive plan to seize West Bank water resources and land, and it illustrates how Israeli heritage projects are being used to extend control over Palestinian private land and archaeological sites under the name of Jewish history. Smotrich explicitly linked the pool to strengthening Israel’s hold, and the case follows similar projects in Sebastia and Solomon’s Pools, raising concerns about further de facto annexation in the Jordan Valley and displacement of Palestinian farming communities.

Watch For

Monitor whether COGAT’s investigation results in restoration of water to Nemer’s farm or any penalties for the settlers, and whether Smotrich’s government proceeds with formal development and funding at Herod’s Pool despite the private ownership claim. Also watch whether this case draws UNESCO or international legal scrutiny alongside other heritage-driven land seizures such as Sebastia and Solomon’s Pools, and whether settler violence or further water diversion occurs in Fasayil.