Ein Harod (Ihud) () 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 northern

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

Jezreel Valley The Jezreel Valley (from the ), or Marj Ibn Amir (), also known as the Valley of Megiddo, is a large fertile plain and inland valley in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. It is bordered to the north by the highlands o ...

near

Mount Gilboa Mount Gilboa (; ''Jabal Jalbūʿ'' or ''Jabal Fuqqāʿa''), sometimes referred to as the Mountains of Gilboa, is the name for a mountain range in the West Bank. It overlooks the Harod Valley (the eastern part of the larger Jezreel Valley) to ...

, it falls under the jurisdiction of

Gilboa Regional Council Gilboa Regional Council (, ''Mo'atza Azorit (ha)Gilbo'a'') is a Regional council (Israel), regional council in northern Israel, located on the slopes of the Mount Gilboa, Gilboa mountain range. There are more than 22,000 residents in 38 settlements ...

. In it had a population of .

Etymology

The kibbutz is named after the biblical spring of

En Harod En Harod (), or the Spring of Harod, is the name for a water source in the story of Gideon in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Judges. It is the location where Gideon's forces set up their camp ahead of battling the Midianites. There is no consensus a ...

, which has become associated with the spring known in Hebrew as

Ma'ayan Harod Ma'ayan Harod () or Ain Jalut ( ', or , and ) is an all-year spring in the Harod Valley (the easternmost part of the Jezreel Valley) on the northwest corner of Mount Gilboa, that was the location of the 13th-century Battle of Ain Jalut. Thi ...

and in Arabic as

Ain Jalut Ma'ayan Harod () or Ain Jalut ( ', or , and ) is an all-year spring in the Harod Valley (the easternmost part of the Jezreel Valley) on the northwest corner of Mount Gilboa, that was the location of the 13th-century Battle of Ain Jalut. Thi ...

. The kibbutz is close to this spring, which was the site of the 1260

Battle of Ain Jalut The Battle of Ain Jalut (), also spelled Ayn Jalut, was fought between the Bahri Mamluks of Egypt and the Ilkhanate on 3 September 1260 (25 Ramadan 658 AH) near the spring of Ain Jalut in southeastern Galilee in the Jezreel Valley. It marks ...

, the first major

Mongol Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family of M ...

defeat in the Mongol invasion of the Levant.

History

It was formed in 1952 as a result of an ideological split in kibbutz

Ein Harod Ein Harod () was a kibbutz in northern Israel near Mount Gilboa. Founded in 1921, it became the center of Mandatory Israel's kibbutz movement, hosting the headquarters of the largest kibbutz organisation, HaKibbutz HaMeuhad. In 1923 part of the ...

(founded 1921), with

Mapam File:Pre-State_Zionist_Workers'_Parties_chart.png, chart of zionist workers parties, 360px, right rect 167 83 445 250 Hapoel Hatzair rect 450 88 717 265 The non-partisans (pre-state Zionist political movement), Non Partisans rect 721 86 995 243 ...

-supporting members forming

Ein Harod (Meuhad) Ein Harod (Meuhad) () is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located in the Jezreel Valley near Mount Gilboa, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gilboa Regional Council. In it had a population of . The kibbutz was the home of Yitzhak Tabenkin, one of f ...

and

Mapai Mapai (, an abbreviation for , ''Mifleget Poalei Eretz Yisrael'', ) was a Labor Zionist and democratic socialist political party in Israel, and was the dominant force in Israeli politics until its merger into the Israeli Labor Party in January ...

-supporting members breaking away to create Ein Harod (Ihud), which joined the

-affiliated

Ihud HaKvutzot veHaKibbutzim The Kibbutz Movement (, ''HaTnu'a HaKibbutzit'') is the largest settlement movement for kibbutzim in Israel. It was formed in 1999 by a partial merger of the United Kibbutz Movement and Kibbutz Artzi and is made up of approximately 230 kibbutzim. I ...

. Today both kibbutzim belong to the same movement, the

United Kibbutz Movement The Kibbutz Movement (, ''HaTnu'a HaKibbutzit'') is the largest settlement movement for kibbutzim in Israel. It was formed in 1999 by a partial merger of the United Kibbutz Movement and Kibbutz Artzi and is made up of approximately 230 kibbutzim. I ...

. It is located on the land of the depopulated

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

village of

Qumya Qumya (), was a Palestinian village of 510 inhabitants when it was depopulated prior to the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. Located 12.5 kilometers north of Baysan, the village was assaulted by the forces of the Golani Brigade on 26 March 1948 during Ope ...

Environmentalism

Ein Harod Ihud was Israel's first "green" kibbutz. The kibbutz has introduced a whole series of environmental projects. Recycling bins have been installed for sorting waste and an ecological garden is being planted based on a model developed by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Technion. The kibbutz is switching to environmentally friendly detergents and has distributed a list of products not tested on animals. An energy survey has been conducted to identify alternative energy sources in the kitchen, laundry and ironing room. Energy consumption is being cut by using energy-saving bulbs and air conditioners, and installing electricity meters in homes and public buildings. The Ministry of Agriculture has approved funding for research on energy efficiency in milk cooling.

References

{{Authority control Kibbutzim Kibbutz Movement Populated places established in 1952 Populated places in Northern District (Israel) 1952 establishments in Israel Jezreel Valley