Batzra () is a

moshav A moshav (, plural ', "settlement, village") is a type of Israeli village or town or Jewish settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 and 1 ...

in central Israel. Located in the Sharon plain near

Ra'anana Ra'anana () is an affluent city in the southern Sharon, Israel, Sharon Plain of the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel. It was founded in 1922 as an American-Jewish settlement, 1 km south of the village of Tabsur, where a ...

, it falls under the jurisdiction of

Hof HaSharon Regional Council Hof HaSharon Regional Council (, ''Mo'atza Azorit Hof HaSharon'', ''lit.'' Sharon Coast Regional Council), is a regional council (Israel), regional council in the Central District (Israel), Central and Tel Aviv District, Tel Aviv districts of Isra ...

. In it had a population of .

History

Before the 20th century the area formed part of the Forest of Sharon. It was an open

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

dominated by Mount Tabor Oak, which extended from

Kfar Yona Kfar Yona () is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel. It is located between the cities Netanya and Tulkarm, about 8 km east of Netanya in the central junction between Highway 6 (Israel), Highway 6 and Highway 4 ...

in the north to

in the south. The intensification of settlement and agriculture in the

coastal plain A coastal plain (also coastal plains, coastal lowland, coastal lowlands) is an area of flat, low-lying land adjacent to a sea coast. A fall line commonly marks the border between a coastal plain and an upland area. Formation Coastal plains can f ...

during the 19th century led to deforestation and subsequent

environmental degradation Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, referring respectively to all living and non-living things occurring naturally and the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism ...

. The moshav was established in 1946 by

demobilised Demobilization or demobilisation (see American and British English spelling differences, spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or becaus ...

soldiers who had received technical training in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

. It was named after

Basra Basra () is a port city in Iraq, southern Iraq. It is the capital of the eponymous Basra Governorate, as well as the List of largest cities of Iraq, third largest city in Iraq overall, behind Baghdad and Mosul. Located near the Iran–Iraq bor ...

in Iraq, where the unit was stationed for some time during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. By 1947 it had a population of 80. It was repopulated by South African Jewry.

References

{{Authority control Moshavim Agricultural Union Populated places established in 1946 Jewish villages in Mandatory Palestine Populated places in Central District (Israel) 1946 establishments in Mandatory Palestine South African-Jewish culture in Israel