Tzukim ( he, צוּקִים, lit. ''Cliffs''), also Zukim, is a

community settlement A community settlement ( he, יישוב קהילתי, ''Yishuv Kehilati'') is a type of village in Israel and the West Bank. While in an ordinary town anyone may buy property, in a community settlement the village's residents are organized in ...

in southern

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. Located in the Arava, 8 km south of

Tzofar Tzofar ( he, צוֹפָר) is a moshav in southern Israel. Etymology The name derives from the nearby Tzofar stream and is also referring to one of the "friends" of Job (f.e. Job 2:11). In the Negev there are also kibbutzim with the names of th ...

, it falls under jurisdiction of the Central Arava Regional Council. In it had a population of .

History

Tzukim was founded in 2001 on land vacated by the Bildad army camp, which was founded in 1983 and named after

Bildad Bildad ( ''Bildaḏ''; ''Baldád''), the Shuhite, was one of Job's three friends who visited the patriarch in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Job. He was a descendant of Shuah, son of Abraham and Keturah (), whose family lived in the deserts of A ...

, one of the "friends" of Biblical Job. In the Negev there are also kibbutzim with the names of the two other "friends": nearby

and Elifaz in the southern Arava. Bildad also served as a transit point for new settlement in the

Arabah The Arabah, Araba or Aravah ( he, הָעֲרָבָה, ''hāʿĂrāḇā''; ar, وادي عربة, ''Wādī ʿAraba''; lit. "desolate and dry area") is a loosely defined geographic area south of the Dead Sea basin, which forms part of the borde ...

valley. The first settlement phase of Tzukim was supposed to begin in 2003, with fifty families. The first settlers were people in their 40s from central Israel. Tzukim's economy is mainly based on tourism, education and art. 200 guest houses are planned here as well as restaurants and spas. By 2008, twelve rooms had been built and with 70 under construction. Today there 3 active kindergartens and also a youth movement in the settlement.

References

Central Arava Regional Council Populated places in Southern District (Israel) Populated places established in 2001 2001 establishments in Israel {{israel-geo-stub