Tzukim () is a

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

in southern

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 Arava valley, 8 km south of Tzofar, it falls under jurisdiction of the

Central Arava Regional Council The Central Arava Regional Council () is a Regional Council (Israel), Regional Council in the South District of Israel. It encompasses eight settlements near the eastern border of Israel, south of the Dead Sea. All settlements are located near R ...

. 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 (; ), 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 (Genesis 25:1–2), whose family lived in the deserts of Arabia ...

, one of the "friends" of Biblical Job. In the Negev there are also kibbutzim with the names of the two other "friends": nearby Tzofar and Elifaz in the southern Arava. Bildad also served as a transit point for new settlement in the Arava 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.

Tourism

Around the cliffs, 7 desert accommodation complexes have been established, ranging from mud huts to luxurious suites. "Films in the Arava - International Film Festival" is an international open-air desert film event held in the cliffs every year. The abandoned Bildad camp has been transformed into an artists' village with workshops for ceramics, painting, sculpture, woodwork and jewelry. There is a nature store and a coffee roasting house on site.

References

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