Hatzerim (, ''lit.'' Farmyards) 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 ...

located 8 kilometers west of

Beersheba Beersheba ( / ; ), officially Be'er-Sheva, is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the centre of the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in Israel, the eighth-most p ...

in the

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 in

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 ...

. It is named after the Bible (Deuteronomy 2:23), mentioning a site nearby: "the Avvites who lived in farmyards as far as Gaza". It belongs to the

Bnei Shimon Regional Council The Bnei Shimon Regional Council (, ''Mo'atza Azorit Bnei Shim'on'', ''lit.'' Regional Council 'Sons of Shimon'), is a regional council in the northern Negev in the south of Israel. Most of its territory lies north of Beersheba and the rest bounds ...

. In it had a population of .

History

The community was established in October 1946 by a young group of

scouts Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...

who were then later joined by Polish-Jewish refugees from the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

; they reached Israel via

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

with the

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the Army, land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 110,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military histor ...

, referred to as "The Children of Tehran" ("Dzieci Teheranu" in Polish). They then learned agriculture and military training becoming part of the

Haganah Haganah ( , ) was the main Zionist political violence, Zionist paramilitary organization that operated for the Yishuv in the Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine. It was founded in 1920 to defend the Yishuv's presence in the reg ...

ground forces. Hatzerim iii

In the 1960s, the

Hatzerim Airbase Hatzerim Airbase (, ''Basis Heil HaAvir Hatzerim'', ''lit.'' Homesteads) is an Israeli Air Force, Israeli Air Force (IAF) base on the northern edge of the Negev, Negev desert in the Southern District (Israel), Southern District of Israel, 6&nbs ...

was built nearby. Hatzerim is now a well developed kibbutz (one of Israel's richest) due to the profits from Netafim. The kibbutz has amenities such as a library, swimming pool, dentist and a zoo. Hatzerim 1947

Netafim

Hatzerim was one of the first kibbutzim (pl.) to break the mould from traditional agriculture and start a business. Netafim is the kibbutz business that started in 1965, that designs, manufactures and distributes irrigation systems. The business is also run with two other kibbutzim,

Magal Magal may refer to: People *Magal (footballer, born 1980), Sidnei da Silva, Brazilian right back *Magal (footballer, born 1987), Magno Aparecido de Andrade, Brazilian left back *Abba Magal (c. 1800), king of Gibe, leader of the Diggo Oromo *Adity ...

and Yiftach. There are also factories around the world, California, USA, South Africa, Western Australia and more. Netafim soon became a world leader in their field as a

multinational corporation A multinational corporation (MNC; also called a multinational enterprise (MNE), transnational enterprise (TNE), transnational corporation (TNC), international corporation, or stateless corporation, is a corporate organization that owns and cont ...

that grosses over $300 million a year. Hatzerim also produces

jojoba oil Jojoba oil () is the liquid produced in the seed of the ''Simmondsia chinensis'' ( jojoba) plant, a shrub, which is native to southern Arizona, southern California, and northwestern Mexico. The oil makes up approximately 50% of the jojoba seed b ...

. There are fields all around the kibbutz.

References

External links

Kibbutz website

Netafim Website

Hatzerim Dance Studio and Dance Company
{{Authority control Kibbutzim Kibbutz Movement Populated places established in 1946 1946 establishments in Mandatory Palestine

History

Netafim

References

Further reading

External links