Prior to 1948, the territory was considered public lands owned by, both, Jews and Arabs living in
Mandatory Palestine. Following the
Armistice agreement of 1949 between Israel and
Jordan, the land was officially recognized as territory falling under Israeli jurisdiction. In 1997, the then
Infrastructure Minister of Israel,
Ariel Sharon, along with the
Israel Land Administration, initiated the establishment of the settlement as part of a plan designed to increase the concentration of the Jewish population along the
Green Line, In March 1999, the District Planning and Building Committee approved the plan for submission as a new neighborhood of Neve Michael. A representative of the
Ministry of Environmental Protection opposed the plan, claiming that it contradicted the plan to establish a biosphere reserve in the entire area, which aimed to preserve landscape values and environmental quality and preserve ecological corridors. In 2000, the National Planning and Building Council approved the establishment of a community settlement of 500 housing units on an area of approximately 1,000 dunams, with the possibility of expansion to 1,400 housing units. The suggested name of the community settlement went from
Roglit B to
Harei Eden to ''Giv'ot Eden'', which last name was finally adopted. Part of the settlement area was established on agricultural land, which was used for field crops. ==References==