Mishmar HaNegev is a kibbutz

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 the northern fringe of the Negev

Negev

The Negev is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The Arabs, including the native Bedouin population of the region, refer to the desert as al-Naqab. The origin of the word Neghebh is from the Hebrew root denoting 'dry'...

 desert in Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

. It is located on Road 264, about 2 kilometres south of the Bedouin

Negev Bedouins

The Negev Bedouin are traditionally pastoral semi-nomadic Arab tribes indigenous to the Negev region in Israel, who hold close ties to the Bedouin of the Sinai Peninsula. The move away from their traditional lifestyle in modern times has led to sedentarization.Estimated to number some 160,000,...

 city of Rahat

Rahat

Rahat is a predominantly Bedouin city in the South District of Israel. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics , at the end of 2009 the city had a total population of 51,700...

 and around 10 km from Beersheba

Beersheba

Beersheba is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the seventh-largest city in Israel with a population of 194,300....

 and is part of the Bnei Shimon Regional Council

Bnei Shimon Regional Council

The Bnei Shimon Regional Council , 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 Beersheba on the west and east sides as well. The eastern border of this territory straddles the Green Line.There are 13...

. In 2006 its population was 547.

History

Mishar HaNegev was founded as one of the 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:...

 settlements established upon the breaking of the fast 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...

 on 6 October 1946. The 30 founders were members of the Borochov

Ber Borochov

Dov Ber Borochov was a Marxist Zionist and one of the founders of the Labor Zionist movement as well as a pioneer in the study of Yiddish as a language....

 movement. Today the kibbutz is a member 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:...

and is non-religious.

Like several other kibbutzim today, Mishar HaNegev specialises in hosting weddings, with the standard wedding hall and ornamental gardens. It also has two factories which manufacture plastic and insulation materials and electronic goods.

External links

• Mishar HaNegev Kibbutz Program Center
• The great drift Jerusalem Post, 25 January 2007