Route 443

Route 443 between Modi'in and Jerusalem

Westbound Maccabim Security Checkpoint approaching Modi'in

Route 443 near Giv'at Ze'ev Junction, with pyramid-shaped stacks of barbed wire forming a section of the Israeli West Bank barrier

Route 443 (Hebrew: כביש 443, מעלה בית חורון‎) is also known as Ma'ale Beit Horon (Bethoron Ascent), following the ancient east-west trade route connecting the Via Maris and the Way of the Patriarchs. It is the main highway connecting Tel Aviv and Gush Dan with Jerusalem via Modi'in. While technically listed as a regional road, it is for the most part a divided, four-lane highway which utilises some grade separation and interchanges, as well as major at-grade intersections, and thus is not classified as a motorway, even though there is a short motorway section on its western end, connecting it to westbound Highway 1.

The highway departs Highway 1 and Highway 6 at Ben Shemen Interchange, and continues eastwards to Shilat junction, which serves as the entrance for the Modi'in area. It continues east into the West Bank in the Matte Binyamin Regional Council, near Ramallah, where it becomes Jerusalem's Begin Expressway via the newly designated Highway 45. A spur, road 436, links it with Giv'at Ze'ev and the Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramot.

Problems in antiquity

The road was the site of many battles in antiquity due to its unique geography, most famously part of the biblical books of Joshua^[1] and 2 Samuel^[2] and also the Battle of Beth Horon between the Macabees and the Seleucid Empire. As opposed to the modern Highway 1, which twists and turns in gullies on its route from the coastal plain to the Judean hills, the central portion of Highway 443 ascends along a ridge line, and thus maintains a relatively stable grade.
see also: Bet-Horon

Problems for Palestinians

Usage of this road is highly problematic for Palestinians, although they do have a legal right to use it.

Several access roads connecting Palestinian villages with Route 443 in the West Bank portion have been closed since the September 2000 outbreak of the Second Intifada.^[3] Frequent fire bomb attacks and fatal shootings on Israeli traffic saw the erection of anti-sniper barricades on parts of the highway adjacent to Palestinian populated areas.^[4][5][6][7]

In March 2008, the Israel's Supreme Court upheld for six more months the IDF's right to limit Palestinian traffic to prevent attacks, challenged by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.^[8][9] The Israeli Human Rights Group B'Tselem has also criticized the closure of route 443 for Palestinians as an example of collective punishment, which is illegal under International law. On December 29, 2009 Israel's High Court of Justice accepted the Association for Civil Rights in Israel's petition against an IDF order barring Palestinians from driving on Highway 443. The ruling came into effect on May 28, 2010, allowing Palestinians to use the road for the first time since 2002, when it was closed following Palestinian attacks on Israeli motorists during the Second Intifada.^[10]

Junctions and interchanges (west to east)

km	Name	Type	Meaning	Location	Road(s) Crossed
0	צומת גינתון (Ginaton Junction)		Little Garden	Lod	(Highway 40)
0.8	צומת בו שמן (Ben Shemen Junction)		Fruitful	Moshav Ben Shemen, Moshav Ginaton	local roads
1.4				Ben Shemen Youth Village and Agricultural School	local road
3	מחלף בן שמן (Ben Shemen Interchange)		Named after location	Ben Shemen	(Highway 1, Highway 6, Route 444)
3.3	צומת מודיעים (Modi'im Junction)		Named after location of ancient village Modi'im Informers	north to Rosh HaAyin	Route 444
3.4	צומת מודיעים (Modi'im Junction)			south to Kfar Daniel, Moshav Gimzo	local road 4314
4.9	צומת נאות קדומים (Neot Kedumim Junction)		Beauties of Ancient Times	Neot Kedumim Nature Reserve	local road
6					local road
7.5				"Tombs of the Maccabees"	local road
8.7	צומת מבוא מודיעים (Mevo Modi'im Junction)		Gateway to Modi'in	Mevo Modi'im	local road
10.2	צומת מכבים (Maccabim Junction)		Named for The Maccabees	entrance to Modi'in	Road 4466
12.8	צומת שילת (Shilat Junction)		Named after location	Shilat Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut Modi'in Illit	(Route 446), Hashmonaim blvd.
13	צומת מכבים-רעות (Maccabim-Re'ut Junction)		The Maccabees-Friendship	Maccabim-Re'ut	Yair Parag Road
13.9	Green Line
14.1	Maccabim Security Checkpoint
↑NO westbound through-traffic for green (Palestinian Authority) license plates↑
14.3	צומת בית חורון (Beit Horon Junction)			Beit Sira	local road NO entry to yellow (Israeli) license plates
23.4				Beit Ur al-Tahta Kharbatha al-Misbah	local road NO entry to yellow (Israeli) license plates
24.8	(eastbound only)			Kharbatha al-Misbah	filling station
23.4	מחלף בית חורון (Beit Horon Interchange)		Named after location House of Horon	Beit Horon al-Tira	local road
↓NO eastbound through-traffic for green (Palestinian Authority) license plates↓
27	Ofer Security Checkpoint
28.3	צומת גבעת זאב (Giv'at Ze'ev Junction)		Wolf Hill	Giv'at Ze'ev Ofer Prison	Highway 45 to (Begin Expressway)

References

External reference links:

• Jewish Universe travel guide
• Tyranny in Tar (political op ed)
• "Israeli High Court Petition on Route 443—Provides Approval for Separation and Discrimination" (20 March 2008 at the Alternative Information Center Palestine/Israel) (political commentary)
• Route 443: West Bank road for Israelis only (B'Tselem Human Rights Report)