A large, upright stone on a terraced hillside on the edge of the settlement is revered as the one that Jacob slept on, then anointed with oil, after God appeared in the dream and promised all the land around to him and his progeny.

Archaeological excavations in the area have found signs of ancient life. The Palestinian village of Beitin sits on a nearby hill.

Mr. Netanyahu has said in the past that he would not evacuate Beit El under any agreement with the Palestinians, even though it lies outside the major settlement blocs that Israeli leaders have more generally insisted on keeping.

Founded in 1977 on private Palestinian land originally seized by Israel for military purposes, the settlement was later approved by the Israeli courts under the rubric of general security. Now it is home to about 6,500 people who mostly live in modest, low-rise two- or four-family buildings. There are plans in the pipeline for at least 300 new apartments in eight-story buildings to be constructed on a rise by the entrance to the settlement.

But the yeshiva complex has so far proven to be Beit El’s main engine of growth.

Considered a prime institution of religious Zionism, the yeshiva is headed by Rabbi Zalman Baruch Melamed, a hard-liner who has denounced homosexuality as a “perversion” and “a severe mental illness” and has ruled that it is forbidden for soldiers or police to participate in the evacuation of settlements.