Gal On
Encyclopedia
Kibbutz
A kibbutz is a collective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economic branches, including industrial plants and high-tech enterprises. Kibbutzim began as utopian communities, a combination of socialism and Zionism...
in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
's southern lowlands
Shephelah
The Shephelah is a designation usually applied to the region in south-central Israel of 10-15 km of low hills between the central Mount Hebron and the coastal plains of Philistia within the area of the Judea, at an altitude of 120-450 metres above sea level. The area is fertile, and a temperate...
associated with the Hashomer Hatzair
Hashomer Hatzair
Hashomer Hatzair is a Socialist–Zionist youth movement founded in 1913 in Galicia, Austria-Hungary, and was also the name of the group's political party in the Yishuv in the pre-1948 British Mandate of Palestine...
movement and its Kibbutz Artzi settlement organisation (now part of the Kibbutz Movement
Kibbutz Movement
The Kibbutz Movement 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.-United Kibbutz Movement:...
). Established as part of the 1946 11 points in the Negev
11 points in the Negev
11 points in the Negev refers to a Jewish Agency plan for establishing eleven settlements in the Negev in 1946, prior to the establishment of the State of Israel.-History:...
settlement drive, it is located approximately ten kilometers north east of Kiryat Gat and two kilometers east of Beit Guvrin
Beit Guvrin
Beit Guvrin may refer to:* The ancient city of Maresha, now an archaeological museum, in Israel* The adjacent Roman and Byzantine city of Eleutheropolis, referred to as Beit Guvrin in Jewish scripture.* Beit Guvrin, Israel, a Kibbutz founded in 1949....
. The kibbutz is administered as part of the Yoav Regional Council
Yoav Regional Council
Yoav Regional Council is a regional council in the South District of Israel. It is located near the cities of Kiryat Gat, Kiryat Malakhi and Ashkelon...
.
Environs
Gal On stands on a hill approximately twenty kilometers from the Mediterranean SeaMediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
. The hill on which it is located borders the Guvrin stream, an auxiliary of Lachish River
Lachish River
Lakhish River is a river in Israel that flows into the Mediterranean Sea at the city of Ashdod. It is also known as Wadi Kabiba and Wadi Sukhrir in Arabic....
. With average rainfall and temperate weather, Gal On’s Mediterranean climate
Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate is the climate typical of most of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, and is a particular variety of subtropical climate...
allows for excellent agricultural production.
History
The core group, or gar'in, that would eventually found the kibbutz was formed from members of the Hashomer Hatzair Zionist Youth Movement in PolandPoland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. The original nine founders of the kibbutz came to the land of Israel
Aliyah
Aliyah is the immigration of Jews to the Land of Israel . It is a basic tenet of Zionist ideology. The opposite action, emigration from Israel, is referred to as yerida . The return to the Holy Land has been a Jewish aspiration since the Babylonian exile...
in 1939, originally settling in Ein HaMifratz
Ein HaMifratz
Ein HaMifratz is a kibbutz near Acre in northern Israel. Located on the Mediterranean coast, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Asher Regional Council...
, near Haifa
Haifa
Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...
. Once their group grew to thirty, they transferred to Giv'at Michael northwest of Ness Ziona
Ness Ziona
Ness Ziona is a city in central Israel founded in 1883. At the end of 2009 the city had a total population of 38,100, and its jurisdiction was 15,579 dunams.-Nahalat Reuben:...
to train for settlement (hakhshara). The group worked to build roads as well as harvest fruit in the neighboring orchards in the developing area. Despite their efforts, the group's economic circumstances were dire. Just after the close of Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur , also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest and most solemn day of the year for the Jews. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue...
between 5 October-6 October 1946, the group moved to their current location next to kibbutz Gat
Gat (kibbutz)
Gat is a kibbutz near Kiryat Gat, Israel. It belongs to Yoav Regional Council.Kibbutz Gat was founded in 1934 by Jewish immigrants from Poland, Yugoslavia and Austria. In 1948, some of the lands of the nearby Arab village of Iraq al-Manshiyya were transferred to the kibbutz. Primor, one of...
in the Shephelah as one of the 11 points of settlement
11 points in the Negev
11 points in the Negev refers to a Jewish Agency plan for establishing eleven settlements in the Negev in 1946, prior to the establishment of the State of Israel.-History:...
established in the area that night. The kibbutz was established with the help of funding from Keren Hayesod
Keren Hayesod
Keren Hayesod – United Israel Appeal is the central fundraising organization for Israel, with operations in 45 countries. The work of Keren Hayesod is carried out in accordance with the Keren Hayesod Law, 5716-1956, passed by the Knesset in January 1956...
on land purchased by the Jewish National Fund
Jewish National Fund
The Jewish National Fund was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman Palestine for Jewish settlement. The JNF is a quasi-governmental, non-profit organisation...
.
Early statehood
1948 Arab-Israeli War
The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, known to Israelis as the War of Independence or War of Liberation The war commenced after the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the creation of an independent Israel at midnight on 14 May 1948 when, following a period of civil war, Arab armies invaded...
, the region around Gal On was very dangerous for Jewish settlers. During the war the kibbutz was isolated and attacked by the Egyptian Army
Egyptian Army
The Egyptian Army is the largest service branch within the Egyptian Armed Forces and holds power in the current Egyptian government. It is estimated to number around 379,000, in addition to 479,000 reservists for a total of 858,000 strong. The modern army was created in the 1820s, and during the...
and surrounding Palestinian Arab villages. Egyptian troops advanced within a kilometer of Gal On, but efforts by the Kibbutz members to lay minefields helped defend the kibbutz and maintain Israel's southern front during the war. In late October 1948, the kibbutz served as a base for the Israel Defense Forces
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
' Operation Yoav
Operation Yoav
Operation Yoav was an Israeli military operation carried out from 15–22 October 1948 in the Negev Desert, during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Its goal was to drive a wedge between the Egyptian forces along the coast and the Beersheba–Hebron–Jerusalem road and ultimately to conquer the whole Negev...
as it was attacked by Arab forces, resulting in the capture of Beit Jibrin in the east. In 1949, kibbutz Beit Guvrin
Beit Guvrin
Beit Guvrin may refer to:* The ancient city of Maresha, now an archaeological museum, in Israel* The adjacent Roman and Byzantine city of Eleutheropolis, referred to as Beit Guvrin in Jewish scripture.* Beit Guvrin, Israel, a Kibbutz founded in 1949....
was established nearby.
The kibbutz's population was boosted by a group of Holocaust survivors who had arrived on the refugee ship Exodus
Exodus (ship)
Exodus 1947 was a ship that carried Jewish emigrants, that left France on July 11, 1947, with the intent of taking its passengers to the British mandate for Palestine. Most of the emigrants were Holocaust survivor refugees, who had no legal immigration certificates to Palestine...
in 1947. In 1951, a large group of Hashomer Hatzair members arrived from North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. A group of Israeli Hashomer Hatzair members joined ten years later in 1961. Additionally, the kibbutz also absorbed a small group of members of Mapam
Mapam
Mapam was a political party in Israel and is one of the ancestors of the modern-day Meretz party.-History:Mapam was formed by a January 1948 merger of the Hashomer Hatzair Workers Party and Ahdut HaAvoda Poale Zion Movement. The party was originally Marxist-Zionist in its outlook and represented...
from Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
.
Desperate times
In the year 2000, the kibbutz found itself in a despondent economic and demographic condition: The kibbutz was losing money, and kibbutz children were leaving for the cities. Consequently, Gal On members decided to change its ways. Kibbutz members decided to adopt a new “security net.” This stabilized the economic situation, but had little effect on demographics. Although more kibbutz children are staying to live on the kibbutz, few become kibbutz members.Their economic situation was exacerbated by a critical lack of water. Gal On had considerably large tracts of land that could not be cultivated because of the shortage. The kibbutz had a well that supplied 60,000 cubic meters of water a year – almost all of which was used for drinking water and daily needs. Only when the Israeli National Water Carrier
National Water Carrier of Israel
The National Water Carrier of Israel is the largest water project in Israel. Its main task is to transfer water from the Sea of Galilee in the north of the country to the highly populated center and arid south and to enable efficient use of water and regulation of the water supply in the country...
was completed was it possible to expand the cultivated areas.
Industry and agriculture
Ramla
Ramla , is a city in central Israel. The city is predominantly Jewish with a significant Arab minority. Ramla was founded circa 705–715 AD by the Umayyad Caliph Suleiman ibn Abed al-Malik after the Arab conquest of the region...
. This factory played an important role in the kibbutz economy for many years, until the fan market was inundated by cheap Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
fans. The factory was converted to electrical motor production, but it too succumbed to the Chinese market and closed down. Today, the kibbutz survives mainly on income from agriculture and the salaries of kibbutz members working outside the kibbutz. Primary crops include wheat, watermelons, and sunflowers. The kibbutz also raises cows and chickens. In addition, the kibbutz's guest house is a significant source of income. Recently, the kibbutz hired a chairman to advise the kibbutz on economic matters.