 The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.Planning for the settlement (then with the name Giv'at Ehud, after Ehud Ben Amiti, a fighter pilot in Operation Opera) began in 1981.The cornerstone was laid in 1984 at a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, by which time the name had changed to Menora.