Negba () is a

kibbutz A kibbutz ( / , ; : kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania Alef, Degania. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economi ...

in southern

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. Located in the northern

Negev The Negev ( ; ) or Naqab (), is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its southern end is the Gulf of Aqaba and the resort town, resort city ...

desert near the cities of Kiryat Malakhi and

Ashkelon Ashkelon ( ; , ; ) or Ashqelon, is a coastal city in the Southern District (Israel), Southern District of Israel on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with the Gaza Strip. The modern city i ...

, it falls under the jurisdiction of Yoav Regional Council. In it had a population of . The name of the kibbutz is based on a verse in the

Book of Genesis The Book of Genesis (from Greek language, Greek ; ; ) is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its incipit, first word, (In the beginning (phrase), 'In the beginning'). Genesis purpor ...

(13:14), where God commands

Abraham Abraham (originally Abram) is the common Hebrews, Hebrew Patriarchs (Bible), patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father who began the Covenant (biblical), covenanta ...

to cast his eyes and travel throughout the

land of Israel The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine. The definition ...

, toward the north, south, east and west. The word "negba" means "southward" in Biblical Hebrew.

History

Foundation

Kibbutz Negba was founded on 12 July 1939 as part of the tower and stockade enterprise. The first settlers were members of

Hashomer Hatzair Hashomer Hatzair (, , 'The Young Guard') is a Labor Zionism, Labor Zionist, secular Jewish youth movement founded in 1913 in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Austria-Hungary. It was also the name of the Hashomer Hatzair Workers Party, the ...

from Poland. It was the southernmost Jewish settlement in

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

Battle for Negba, 1948

In the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, also known as the First Arab–Israeli War, followed the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine, civil war in Mandatory Palestine as the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. The civil war becam ...

, the Israeli military engaged in many battles with Egypt. When the

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

ians invaded on 15 May 1948, their forces advanced and captured the police station, Iraq-Suweidan, a Tegart fort named after the nearby Arab village, that controlled the route to the

. Aside from the police station, the Egyptians seized Arab villages near the kibbutz, from which they attacked Jewish vehicles travelling on the roads from Ashkelon to Hebron and Jerusalem. The kibbutz was destroyed in the heavy fighting which went on for three months. On 9 November 1948, after the defeat of the Egyptian army in

Operation Yoav Operation Yoav (also called Operation Ten Plagues or Operation Yo'av) was an Israeli military operation carried out from 15–22 October 1948 in the Negev Desert, during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Its goal was to drive a wedge between the Eg ...

, the police station was captured by the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

. A memorial to the fallen soldiers was constructed next to the military cemetery: a man and a woman from the kibbutz with a fighting soldier. Next to the memorial statue stands an Egyptian tank. The kibbutz water tower, pockmarked with bullet holes, is a testimony to the fierce battle.

Gallery

File:נגבה - העליה לנגבה-JNF026081.jpeg, Negba foundation 1939 File:Negba-homa-u-migdal.jpg, Tower and stockade replica File:מראה כללי של נגבה בחוף הנגב-JNF002733.jpeg, Negba 1942 Image:Metzudat-Yoav001.jpg, "Meztudat Yoav", the former Iraq Suweidan police station File:Rapoport negba.jpg, Nathan Rapoport, memorial to the participants in the 1948 battles

Economy

The kibbutz economy is based on poultry, cattle, orchards, vegetables and two factories. It also has a history museum featuring a reconstructed model of the tower and stockade settlements. Negba, along with Sde Yoav, operate Hamei Yoav, a spa with hot springs and thermo-mineral baths. Under a new financial arrangement, members who left the kibbutz are able to return as "economically independent members." They live in residences registered in their own name and are partners with equal rights and obligations in the communal element of the kibbutz (education, culture, welfare and infrastructure) but not in the productive assets (agriculture, industrial enterprises and shares in the dairy cooperative Tnuva).Less equality, more freedom and Kibbutz Negba's prodigal sons return
Haaretz

Geography

Climate

Notable residents

* Yossi Peled (born 1941), Israeli general and politician * Anat Maor (born 1945), Israeli politician * Avshalom Vilan (born 1951), Israeli politician and economist

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Kibbutzim Kibbutz Movement Populated places established in 1939 1939 establishments in Mandatory Palestine Populated places in Southern District (Israel)