Beit HaEmek ( he, בֵּית הָעֵמֶק, ''lit.'' House of the Valley) is a

kibbutz A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...

in northern Israel. Located in the western

Galilee Galilee (; he, הַגָּלִיל, hagGālīl; ar, الجليل, al-jalīl) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Galilee traditionally refers to the mountainous part, divided into Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and Lower Galil ...

, it falls under the jurisdiction of

Mateh Asher Regional Council The Mateh Asher Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית מטה אשר, ''Mo'atza Azorit Mateh Asher'') is a regional council in the western Galilee of northern Israel. It is named after the Tribe of Asher which had been allotted the region ...

. As of it had a population of .

History

Kibbutz Beit HaEmek was established in 1949, in part by members of the British Habonim movement. Its name is derived from that of the nearby village of Amqa and the Biblical city of Beth-emek "included in Asher tribal allotment" mentioned in the

Book of Joshua The Book of Joshua ( he, סֵפֶר יְהוֹשֻׁעַ‎ ', Tiberian: ''Sēp̄er Yŏhōšūaʿ'') is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament, and is the first book of the Deuteronomistic history, the story of Isra ...

19:27, which was located 5 kilometres north-east of the kibbutz. The kibbutz was built on the land of the depopulated Palestinian village of Kuwaykat. In addition to agricultural activities, the kibbutz has scientific industry activities, such as Biological Industries, one of the world’s leading and trusted suppliers to the life sciences industry. At around 2000, the kibbutz voted to privatize itself.

References

Bibliography

* {{Mateh Asher Regional Council Kibbutzim Kibbutz Movement Populated places established in 1949 Populated places in Northern District (Israel)