The Hefer Valley Regional Council (, ''Mo'atza Azorit Emek Hefer'') is a regional council in the

Sharon Sharon ( 'plain'), also spelled Saron, is a given name as well as a Hebrew name. In Anglosphere, English-speaking areas, Sharon is now predominantly a feminine given name, but historically it was also used as a masculine given name. In Israel, ...

region of the Central District of

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 an administrative district in this area in the time of

King Solomon King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a constitutional monarch if his power is restrained by f ...

(). The council covers an area adjacent to

Hadera Hadera (, ) is a city located in the Haifa District of Israel, in the northern Sharon plain, Sharon region, approximately 45 kilometers (28 miles) from the major cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa. The city is located along 7 km (5 mi) of ...

in the north, to

Netanya Netanya () () or Natanya (), is a city in the "Planet Bekasi" Central District (Israel), Setanyahu of Israel, Israel BAB ih, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa, between the Poleg stre ...

in the south, to the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

in the west and to

Tulkarm Tulkarm or Tulkarem (, ''Ṭūlkarm'') is a Palestinians, Palestinian city in the West Bank, the capital of the Tulkarm Governorate of the State of Palestine. The Israeli city of Netanya is to the west, and the Palestinian territories, Palestinia ...

and the Green Line in the east. As of December 2020, the jurisdiction area of the council has a population of about 42,600 people. The Regional Council offices are located near

Kfar Monash Kfar Monash () is a moshav in central Israel. Located in the northern part of the Sharon plain and covering 2,700 dunams, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hefer Valley Regional Council. In it had a population of . The vast majority of its ...

, at the Ruppin junction, next to the Ruppin Academic Center.

History

The region of Hefer Valley (''Emek Hefer'') covers an area known to its former Arab Palestinian inhabitants as Wadi al-HawarithPiterberg, Gabriel (2008). ''The Returns of Zionism: Myths, Politics and Scholarship in Israel'',

Verso Books Verso Books (formerly New Left Books) is a publishing house based in London and New York City, founded in 1970 by the staff of ''New Left Review'' (NLR) and includes Tariq Ali and Perry Anderson on its board of directors. According to its webs ...

p. ix: "I grew up in an affluent part of Israel which is strewn with labour Zionist cooperative settlements. The region is called Emeq Hefer. What I came to realize was that underneath Emeq Hefer lay — erased and buried — Wadi Hawarith; and that my joyful and privileged childhood and young adulthood in Emeq Hefer were inextricably intertwined with the destruction of Wadi Hawarith and the removal of its previous inhabitants." In the early 1900s, a local midwife, Olga Hankin, reported information about the economic state of the families in the region to her husband,

Yehoshua Hankin Yehoshua Hankin (, 1864 – 11 November 1945) was a Zionism, Zionist activist who was responsible for most of the major land purchases of the World Zionist Organization, Zionist Organization in Ottoman Empire, Ottoman Palestine (region), Palesti ...

, who was in charge of land purchase for the

Jewish National Fund The Jewish National Fund (JNF; , ''Keren Kayemet LeYisrael''; previously , ''Ha Fund HaLeumi'') is a non-profit organizationProfessor Alon Tal, The Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, The Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben Gurion ...

(JNF). In 1927, Yehoshua Hankin resolved the complex legal issues involved in purchasing the land, and signed an agreement for the purchase of the Hefer Valley. The only difficulty was that the JNF did not have sufficient funds to pay the sum needed for buying the land. The chairman of the JNF,

Menachem Ussishkin Menachem Ussishkin ( ''Avraham Menachem Mendel Ussishkin'', ; August 14, 1863 – October 2, 1941) was a Russian-born Zionist leader and head of the Jewish National Fund. Biography Menachem Ussishkin was born in Dubrowna in the Belarusian ...

, set out on a fundraising trip to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, returning with $300,000 and undertakings to bring it up to a million, the sum required to purchase the Hefer Valley over a period of seven years. At the 16th

Zionist Congress The Zionist Congress was established in 1897 by Theodor Herzl as the supreme organ of the Zionist Organization (ZO) and its legislative authority. In 1960 the names were changed to World Zionist Congress ( ''HaKongres HaTsioni HaOlami'') and Wor ...

held in

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

in 1929, Ussishkin announced that Emek Hefer was now in Jewish hands. A group of 20 young members of the "Vitkin" and "Haemek" ('the valley') movements settled in the newly purchased valley. They moved into an abandoned building and began draining the swamps and preparing the land for agriculture. In April 1933, they built their first houses at

Kfar Vitkin Kfar Vitkin () is a moshav in central Israel. Located near Netanya, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hefer Valley Regional Council and was the first Jewish settlement in the valley. In it had a population of . History The community was esta ...

, in the heart of the valley. In 1931, a group from the

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 ...

movement in

established the settlement of

Ein HaHoresh Ein HaHoresh () is a kibbutz in the Sharon region of the Central District of Israel. Located to the north of Netanya and to the south of Hadera, it falls under the jurisdiction of the Hefer Valley Regional Council. In it had a population of . ...

, planting the first citrus grove. A company called "Yachin" prepared plantations for settlers from abroad. Another group from the Kibbutz HaMeuhad movement, founded

Givat Haim Givat Haim () was a kibbutz located around five kilometres south of Hadera in Israel. It split along ideological lines in 1952, creating two new kibbutzim, Givat Haim (Meuhad) and Givat Haim (Ihud).Ranen Omer-Sherman (2015''Imagining the Kibbutz: ...

in 1932, while the organization of demobilized soldiers from the

Jewish Brigade The Jewish Infantry Brigade Group, more commonly known as the Jewish Brigade Group or Jewish Brigade, was a military formation of the British Army in the World War II, Second World War. It was formed in late 1944 and was recruited among Yishuv, Y ...

set up the settlement of

Avihayil Avihayil (, lit. ''Father of strength'') is a moshav in central Israel. Located to the north-east of Netanya, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hefer Valley Regional Council. In it had a population of . Name The moshav was named after the biol ...

. Ruppin Academic Center was established in the region in 1949.

List of settlements

Kibbutzim

* Bahan *

Givat Haim (Ihud) Givat Haim (Ihud) (, lit. ''the hill of life haim's Hill(Union)'') is a kibbutz near Hadera in Israel. It is located within the jurisdiction of the Hefer Valley Regional Council. In it had a population of . History It was formed in 1952 by ...

Givat Haim (Meuhad) Givat Haim (Meuhad) (, lit. ''Haim Hill (United)'') is a kibbutz near Hadera in Israel. It falls under the jurisdiction Hefer Valley Regional Council. In it had a population of . History It was formed in 1952 by an ideological split in kibbutz ...

HaMa'apil HaMa'apil (, ''lit.'' The illegal immigrant) is a kibbutz in central Israel. It is located near Ahituv within the jurisdiction of the Hefer Valley Regional Council. In it had a population of . History The community was established in Hadera i ...

* HaOgen *

Ma'abarot Ma'abarot (, singular: Ma'abara ) were immigrant and refugee absorption camps established in Israel in the 1950s, constituting one of the largest public projects planned by the state to implement its sociospatial and housing policies. The ma' ...

* Mishmar HaSharon * Yad Hana

Moshavim

* Ahituv *

Be'erotayim Be'erotayim () is a moshav in central Israel. Located in the Sharon plain and covering 3,500 dunams, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hefer Valley Regional Council. In it had a population of . Etymology The name (meaning "Two Wells") is deri ...

* Beit HaLevi * Beit Herut * Beit Yanai * Beit Yitzhak-Sha'ar Hefer * Beitan Aharon * Burgata * Eliashiv * Elyakhin *

Gan Yoshiya Gan Yoshiya (, lit. ''Josiah's Garden'') is a moshav in central Israel. Located near the Green Line in the Tulkarm area, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hefer Valley Regional Council. In it had a population of . History The moshav was found ...

* Geulei Teiman * Givat Shapira * Hadar Am * Haniel *

Havatzelet HaSharon Havatzelet HaSharon () is a moshav in central Israel. Located on the Mediterranean coast in the Sharon plain just north of Netanya, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hefer Valley Regional Council. In it had a population of . History and etymo ...

Herev Le'et Herev Le'et (, lit. ''Sword to Plowshare'') is a moshav in central Israel. Located in the coastal plain to the south of Hadera and covering 1,750 dunams, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hefer Valley Regional Council. In it had a population of ...

* Hibat Tzion * Hogla * Kfar Haim * Kfar Haroeh *

* Kfar Yedidia * Mikhmoret * Olesh * Ometz

Community settlements

* Bat Hen * Bat Hefer * Beit Hazon * Hofit * Shoshanat HaAmakim * Tzukei Yam

Youth villages

* Hadassah Neurim *

Mevo'ot Yam Mevo'ot Yam (, ''lit.'' Sea Gate) is a youth village on the coast of Israel. Located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea adjacent to Mikhmoret, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hefer Valley Regional Council. In it had a student population of ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control Regional councils in Israel Central District (Israel) Sharon plain