Unique features: The forest, which grows on the edge of the desert, is the largest of Israel's man-planted forests.

The father of afforestation in Israel, Yosef Weitz, jabbed the ground of Yatir with his walking stick and declared: "A forest will grow here!" contradicting the experts who argued that it was impossible for trees to grow on such arid soil.
Plantings in the Yatir area begun in 1964 by Keren Kayemeth Le?Israel - Jewish National Fund (KKl-JNF). Today, more than 4 million trees, including a wide variety of species (Jerusalem pine, Atlanta terebrinths, cedars, oaks, Judas trees, cypresses and others) grow here. Fruit trees such as almonds, pistachios, olives, walnuts, peach and grapevines have been planted in the Yatir Forest as well.