Givat Shaul (, lit. (Saul's Hill); ) is a neighborhood in West Jerusalem. The neighborhood is located at the western entrance to the city, east of the neighborhood of Har Nof and north of Kiryat Moshe. Givat Shaul stands 820 meters above sea level. Name Givat Shaul is named after the Rishon Lezion, Rabbi Yaakov Shaul Elyashar, the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, and not, as commonly believed, for the biblical King Saul, whose capital was probably located on the hill Gibeah of Saul near Pisgat Ze'ev, on the way to Ramallah. History Givat Shaul was established in 1906 on land purchased from the Arab villages of Deir Yassin and Lifta by a society headed by Rabbi Nissim Elyashar, Arieh Leib and Moshe Kopel Kantrovitz. Difficulties in registering the land delayed construction until 1919. The first residents were needy families who were given small plots to grow fresh produce that was marketed in Jerusalem. These families, mainly Yemenite Jews, were joined by others from Meah Shearim and the Old City. The Ashkenazim built the first public building, Beit Knesset HaPerushim. In 1912, an embroidery and sewing workshop was opened with the help of a Jewish philanthropist, Rabbi Slutzkin. Other industries established in Givat Shaul were the Froumine biscuit factory, a factory for kerosene heaters that manufactured arms for the British army during the British Mandate of Palestine, and a matza factory. In 1927, the Diskin Orphanage moved to Givat Shaul from the Old City. This building, designed by a local architect named Tabachnik, was home to 500 orphan boys. According to a census conducted in 1931 by the British Mandate authorities, Givat Shaul had a population of 966 inhabitants, in 152 inhabited houses. A long, dirt track separated Givat Shaul from a cluster of Arab villages, including Deir Yassin, with whom the Jews maintained good relations. In late 1946, the Haganah straightened and paved the dirt track in order to use it as a landing strip. During the Battle for Jerusalem in 1948, the Haganah flew in supplies, armaments, food, and troops on this runway. After the war, this road became known as Kanfei Nesharim Street. In January 1948, the leaders of Givat Shaul met with the mukhtar of Deir Yassin to work out a non-aggression pact: if armed militia entered Deir Yassin, the villagers would hang out laundry in a certain sequence or place lanterns in a particular location.