Moshe Novomeysky
Encyclopedia
Moshe Novomeysky was an early Israeli pioneer, scientist, and developer of the Palestine Potash Company, precursor of the Dead Sea Works
.
n village of Barguzin. Following his father, he developed an interest in mining. He graduated Irkutsk Technical School, then studied mining engineering in Royal Prussian
Königsberg University, graduating in 1897 and returning to Barguzin. Unlike fellow mining scientists, Novomeysky looked towards Lake Baikal
as a source of minerals and researched ways to extract them from bodies of water, and was among the pioneers of mining in Siberia. In 1900, he built a chemical factory that supplied local glassworks with refined salts.
Novomeysky came from a family tradition of political activism. His grandfather was exiled from Poland
to Siberia
in 1831 on the charge of aiding Polish rebels in an uprising. Initially a Social Revolutionary, he moved towards the Social Democrats. Upset by their views on nationalities, Novomeysky discovered Zionism
and attended the 1903 Zionist Congress in Basel
, Switzerland
. This resulted in his 1905 imprisonment for "revolutionary activity." He was released after five months.
Novomeysky went on to become a prominent figure in Jewish community. He chaired "National Council of Jews in Siberia" and headed Siberian Zionist Center in 1914-1920. He was treasurer for Haganah
in 1921-1922.
can be traced back to his meeting with fellow scientist and Zionist Otto Warburg in 1906, who introduced him to a report about the Dead Sea by German geologist Blankenhorn. He discerned similarities between its chemical composition and those of the Siberian lakes. In 1907, he applied to the Ottoman Turkish
authorities for permission to extract salts from the Dead Sea.
In 1911, he visited the Dead Sea for the first time. With a climate that was the polar opposite of his birthplace, he wrote, "This was something of quite a different order from anything I had known." He then set about testing the Dead Sea's specific gravity, water and air temperatures, and the practicality of constructing evaporation pans. He then returned to Siberia.
In 1920, Novomeysky immigrated
to Mandate Palestine and began using his Hebrew name, Moshe. He settled his family in Gedera
, near Tel Aviv
, and purchased some land on the Dead Sea's northern shore, near Jericho
. Towards the end of 1922 he purchased rights to mine salt at Mount Sodom and sail on the sea from a Bethlehem
Arab, along with some disused huts on the northern shore. He continued his pursuits by founding a company, "Jordan", to search for oil
. In 1924 he founded the Palestine Mining Syndicate, and conducted more geological survey
s of the Dead Sea with the British geologist George Stanfield Blake.
In 1925, the High Commissioner
for Palestine granted him permission to continue the surveys. In April, he sent the manager of his plant in Hadera
, Moshe Langutzky, to conduct research on the northern shore. Langutzky spent two years observing, surveying, and running early attempts at potash
exploitation, all on his own.
in 1927. This triggered a debate in the British Parliament, revealing the anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist
feelings of some MPs. In this debate, the speaker of the House of Lords
, Islington
, described Zionism as an "unfortunate experiment".
Gathering support among well-known Londoners, Novomeysky was eventually granted a seventy-five year concession in August 1929 to his Palestine Potash Company
, but only after providing documentation of his funding and accepting that the company be run by a Briton. The company's board of directors
and marketing
departments were located in London
, their management and research laboratories in Jerusalem, the primary production facility on the northern shore of the Dead Sea, and experimental production at the Mount Sodom site. Most of the workers were employed at the northern shore campus and commuted from Jerusalem. British authorities would not allow the Jews to establish villages on nearby government land, but Novomeysky was ultimately granted permission to build a workers' neighbourhood on the basis of his concession. Marshland near the potash plant was drained, and a neighbourhood named Kalia
was begun in 1934, which eventually built community institutions and was planned on the communal settlement
model.
Seeing potential for the Dead Sea as a vacation place, the British authorities had installed a golf course in Kalia named Sodom and Gomorrah
.
Potash
production was based on extremely large evaporation pans, while the northern shore plot was relatively small. Novomeysky felt the limitations in 1933 when he approached kibbutz Ramat Rachel
about organising a labour group to expand operations at the expansive Mount Sodom site; while the northern shore had difficult conditions, the southern site was far harsher due to its isolation from civilisation in the heart of the Judean Desert
combined with that region's arid climate. Ramat Rachel contacted the United Kibbutz Movement, which organised a group of 20 who in 1934 travelled to Mount Sodom along with Palestine Potash workers to establish a work camp. Materials arrived from Jerusalem, and water was purchased from King Abdullah
.
The group found a good site for building residences in the nearby Zoar valley and was joined by a workers group from Ra'anana
. However the area was now allotted to Abdullah's Emirate of Transjordan, and the group was evacuated following his protests. Despite this, on 8 October 1939, at the start of the Second World War
, the group was able to set up a kibbutz
near Kalia called Beit HaArava
, which facilitated successful experiments in raising crops on hypersaline soil. Novomeysky received permission despite the British White Paper of 1939
, which sought to restrict further Jewish immigration into Palestine and prevent new settlements from being built, because the kibbutz was a residence for his workers. By 1943, 100 Jewish families were living in Beit HaArava, which boasted fish ponds, eucalyptus, cypress, pines, and flowers.
By 1940 the Palestine Potash Company was responsible for half of the country's industrial export, and it supplied half of Britain's demand during World War II. In 1946 Novomeysky founded a fertiliser and chemicals company.
and was known to locals as "the doctor." Novomeysky had also maintained ties with King Abdullah I of Jordan
, whose Emirate, now a country, lay just across the Jordan River from the northern shore concession.
Due to Novomeysky's reputation, the kibbutzim were spared from the anti-Jewish riots of 1936-39. Many of its Arab labourers hailed from nearby Jericho
.
From 18 April 1948, the British ceased escorting convoys from Jerusalem to the northern shore facilities. As the prospect of war between the Arabs and the Zionists increased at the close of the British Mandate, Novomeysky tried to foster peace with Adbullah, attempting to strike a deal that would spare the potash works due to their value to both sides as well as the British. Having twice flown to Amman
for negotiations, on 13 May 1948 an agreement was reached with the Transjordanian delegation whereby a neutral zone would be created to protect the facilities. He travelled to Tel Aviv
on 14 May in order to share these results with David Ben-Gurion
, the Zionist leader and soon Prime Minister of Israel
.
Ben-Gurion couldn't immediately meet him due to preparations for Israel's Declaration of Independence, and when Moshe Novomeysky was injured in an automobile accident
, he was unable to attend to finalising the understandings. On 17 May, representatives of the Palestine Potash Company and the Haganah
signed an agreement putting both northern and southern facilities under Transjordanian custody, in contradiction to the previous agreements. The Haganah command rejected the new agreement as well, but due to his hospitalisation, Novomeysky was unable to use his Transjordanian contacts to remedy the situation.
As other Jewish settlements in Arab-controlled areas were subject to massacres
, the residents of Kalia grew apprehensive. After the Naharayim
power plant, which straddles the Jordan River, had its Jewish employees taken prisoner by the Jordanians, the mistrust grew. Ben-Gurion ultimately ordered Kalia and Beit HaAravah evacuated, and on May 19 and May 20, 1948, hundreds of workers, kibbutz members, and the Palmach
security contingent fled on a "fleet" of 17 small boats to the Mount Sodom complex, having sabotaged the factory's equipment to prevent the now enemy from using them. Abdullah's Arab Legion
entered the site, which had already been vandalised by locals, on May 22, and completely destroyed both the Potash facilities and the kibbutzim.
appointed a commission to examine the Palestine Phosphate Company's operations and determine what action, if any, the government should take. The Yishuv
's attitudes towards the company were mixed, on the one hand recognising its important contributions to the economy, and on the other hostile to its British directors. The commission acted to expel the British interests and to modify the concession's terms. At the same time, Novomeysky, 75 years of age, was forced out. Following the commission's recommendations, conditions were set to allow continued operation of the company, which were not met.
The Israeli government decided in December 1951 to start a new company, the Dead Sea Works Ltd.
The new company acquired all the property of the Palestine Potash Company in July 1952, but was run without making use of the previous company's considerable experience. In the face of decreasing productivity, Mordechai Maklef was appointed director, and he soon turned around and improved the operations.
Novomeysky maintained contact with Adbullah, in hope of restoring his business. In 1957, the Technion awarded Novomeysky an honorary doctorate in the technical sciences. He died in 1961 at the age of 87, and was buried in Tel Aviv
's Trumpeldor cemetery
.
Dead Sea Works
The Dead Sea Works is an Israeli potash plant in Sdom, on the Dead Sea coast of Israel.-History:The company was established in 1930 by Moshe Novomeysky. It was known then as the Palestine Potash Company...
.
Biography
Mikhail (Moses) Novomeysky was born in 1873 in the SiberiaSiberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
n village of Barguzin. Following his father, he developed an interest in mining. He graduated Irkutsk Technical School, then studied mining engineering in Royal Prussian
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
Königsberg University, graduating in 1897 and returning to Barguzin. Unlike fellow mining scientists, Novomeysky looked towards Lake Baikal
Lake Baikal
Lake Baikal is the world's oldest at 30 million years old and deepest lake with an average depth of 744.4 metres.Located in the south of the Russian region of Siberia, between Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Buryat Republic to the southeast, it is the most voluminous freshwater lake in the...
as a source of minerals and researched ways to extract them from bodies of water, and was among the pioneers of mining in Siberia. In 1900, he built a chemical factory that supplied local glassworks with refined salts.
Novomeysky came from a family tradition of political activism. His grandfather was exiled from Poland
Poland
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...
to Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
in 1831 on the charge of aiding Polish rebels in an uprising. Initially a Social Revolutionary, he moved towards the Social Democrats. Upset by their views on nationalities, Novomeysky discovered Zionism
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
and attended the 1903 Zionist Congress in Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. This resulted in his 1905 imprisonment for "revolutionary activity." He was released after five months.
Novomeysky went on to become a prominent figure in Jewish community. He chaired "National Council of Jews in Siberia" and headed Siberian Zionist Center in 1914-1920. He was treasurer for Haganah
Haganah
Haganah was a Jewish paramilitary organization in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine from 1920 to 1948, which later became the core of the Israel Defense Forces.- Origins :...
in 1921-1922.
Dead Sea development
Novomeysky's interest in the Dead SeaDead Sea
The Dead Sea , also called the Salt Sea, is a salt lake bordering Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank to the west. Its surface and shores are below sea level, the lowest elevation on the Earth's surface. The Dead Sea is deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world...
can be traced back to his meeting with fellow scientist and Zionist Otto Warburg in 1906, who introduced him to a report about the Dead Sea by German geologist Blankenhorn. He discerned similarities between its chemical composition and those of the Siberian lakes. In 1907, he applied to the Ottoman Turkish
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
authorities for permission to extract salts from the Dead Sea.
In 1911, he visited the Dead Sea for the first time. With a climate that was the polar opposite of his birthplace, he wrote, "This was something of quite a different order from anything I had known." He then set about testing the Dead Sea's specific gravity, water and air temperatures, and the practicality of constructing evaporation pans. He then returned to Siberia.
In 1920, Novomeysky immigrated
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...
to Mandate Palestine and began using his Hebrew name, Moshe. He settled his family in Gedera
Gedera
-External links:** *...
, near Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
, and purchased some land on the Dead Sea's northern shore, near Jericho
Jericho
Jericho ; is a city located near the Jordan River in the West Bank of the Palestinian territories. It is the capital of the Jericho Governorate and has a population of more than 20,000. Situated well below sea level on an east-west route north of the Dead Sea, Jericho is the lowest permanently...
. Towards the end of 1922 he purchased rights to mine salt at Mount Sodom and sail on the sea from a Bethlehem
Bethlehem
Bethlehem is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank of the Jordan River, near Israel and approximately south of Jerusalem, with a population of about 30,000 people. It is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate of the Palestinian National Authority and a hub of Palestinian culture and tourism...
Arab, along with some disused huts on the northern shore. He continued his pursuits by founding a company, "Jordan", to search for oil
Oil exploration
Hydrocarbon exploration is the search by petroleum geologists and geophysicists for hydrocarbon deposits beneath the Earth's surface, such as oil and natural gas...
. In 1924 he founded the Palestine Mining Syndicate, and conducted more geological survey
Geological survey
The term geological survey can be used to describe both the conduct of a survey for geological purposes and an institution holding geological information....
s of the Dead Sea with the British geologist George Stanfield Blake.
In 1925, the High Commissioner
High Commissioner
High Commissioner is the title of various high-ranking, special executive positions held by a commission of appointment.The English term is also used to render various equivalent titles in other languages.-Bilateral diplomacy:...
for Palestine granted him permission to continue the surveys. In April, he sent the manager of his plant in Hadera
Hadera
Hadera is a city located in the Haifa District of Israel approximately from the major cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa. The city is located along of the Israeli Mediterranean Coastal Plain...
, Moshe Langutzky, to conduct research on the northern shore. Langutzky spent two years observing, surveying, and running early attempts at potash
Potash
Potash is the common name for various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water-soluble form. In some rare cases, potash can be formed with traces of organic materials such as plant remains, and this was the major historical source for it before the industrial era...
exploitation, all on his own.
Palestine Potash Company
British Mandatory authorities subsequently issued a tender for mining the Dead Sea area. Many groups applied; Novomeysky's consortium included a Scotsman named Talluck who had sought permission to mine there as early as the beginning of the British rule in 1918. After beating fierce competition from American firms for the right to mine around the Dead Sea, the application was officially accepted by High Commissioner Herbert PlumerHerbert Plumer, 1st Viscount Plumer
Field Marshal Herbert Charles Onslow Plumer, 1st Viscount Plumer, GCB, GCMG, GCVO, GBE was a British colonial official and soldier born in Torquay who commanded the British Second Army in World War I and later served as High Commissioner of the British Mandate for Palestine.-Military...
in 1927. This triggered a debate in the British Parliament, revealing the anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist
Anti-Zionism
Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionistic views or opposition to the state of Israel. The term is used to describe various religious, moral and political points of view in opposition to these, but their diversity of motivation and expression is sufficiently different that "anti-Zionism" cannot be...
feelings of some MPs. In this debate, the speaker of the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
, Islington
Islington
Islington is a neighbourhood in Greater London, England and forms the central district of the London Borough of Islington. It is a district of Inner London, spanning from Islington High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the area around the busy Upper Street...
, described Zionism as an "unfortunate experiment".
Gathering support among well-known Londoners, Novomeysky was eventually granted a seventy-five year concession in August 1929 to his Palestine Potash Company
Dead Sea Works
The Dead Sea Works is an Israeli potash plant in Sdom, on the Dead Sea coast of Israel.-History:The company was established in 1930 by Moshe Novomeysky. It was known then as the Palestine Potash Company...
, but only after providing documentation of his funding and accepting that the company be run by a Briton. The company's board of directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
and marketing
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
departments were located in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, their management and research laboratories in Jerusalem, the primary production facility on the northern shore of the Dead Sea, and experimental production at the Mount Sodom site. Most of the workers were employed at the northern shore campus and commuted from Jerusalem. British authorities would not allow the Jews to establish villages on nearby government land, but Novomeysky was ultimately granted permission to build a workers' neighbourhood on the basis of his concession. Marshland near the potash plant was drained, and a neighbourhood named Kalia
Kalia
Kalia may refer to:* Kalia, Bangladesh* Kalia, Chad* Kalia, Democratic Republic of Congo* Kalia, Faranah, in Guinea* Kalia, Gaoual, in Guinea* Kalia, Indonesia* Kalya, Israeli kibbutz* Kalia, Liberia* Kalia, Nigeria* Kalia, Pakistan...
was begun in 1934, which eventually built community institutions and was planned on the communal settlement
Communal settlement (Israel)
A community settlement is a type of town in Israel. While in an ordinary town anyone may buy property, in a community settlement the town's residents, who are organized in a cooperative, can veto a sale of a house or a business to an undesirable buyer....
model.
Seeing potential for the Dead Sea as a vacation place, the British authorities had installed a golf course in Kalia named Sodom and Gomorrah
Sodom and Gomorrah
Sodom and Gomorrah were cities mentioned in the Book of Genesis and later expounded upon throughout the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and Deuterocanonical sources....
.
Potash
Potash
Potash is the common name for various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water-soluble form. In some rare cases, potash can be formed with traces of organic materials such as plant remains, and this was the major historical source for it before the industrial era...
production was based on extremely large evaporation pans, while the northern shore plot was relatively small. Novomeysky felt the limitations in 1933 when he approached kibbutz Ramat Rachel
Ramat Rachel
Ramat Rachel is a kibbutz located south of Jerusalem in Israel, as an enclave within Jerusalem's municipal boundaries. Overlooking Bethlehem and Rachel's Tomb and situated within the Green Line, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Yehuda Regional Council...
about organising a labour group to expand operations at the expansive Mount Sodom site; while the northern shore had difficult conditions, the southern site was far harsher due to its isolation from civilisation in the heart of the Judean Desert
Judean desert
The Judaean Desert is a desert in Israel and the West Bank that lies east of Jerusalem and descends to the Dead Sea. It stretches from the northeastern Negev to the east of Beit El, and is marked by terraces with escarpments. It ends in a steep escarpment dropping to the Dead Sea and the Jordan...
combined with that region's arid climate. Ramat Rachel contacted the United Kibbutz Movement, which organised a group of 20 who in 1934 travelled to Mount Sodom along with Palestine Potash workers to establish a work camp. Materials arrived from Jerusalem, and water was purchased from King Abdullah
Abdullah I of Jordan
Abdullah I bin al-Hussein, King of Jordan [‘Abd Allāh ibn al-Husayn] عبد الله الأول بن الحسين born in Mecca, Second Saudi State, was the second of three sons of Sherif Hussein bin Ali, Sharif and Emir of Mecca and his first wife Abdiyya bint Abdullah...
.
The group found a good site for building residences in the nearby Zoar valley and was joined by a workers group from Ra'anana
Ra'anana
Ra'anana is a city in the heart of the southern Sharon Plain of the Central District of Israel with a population of 68,300, . Ra'anana is bordered by Kfar Sava on the east and Herzliya on the southwest...
. However the area was now allotted to Abdullah's Emirate of Transjordan, and the group was evacuated following his protests. Despite this, on 8 October 1939, at the start of the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the group was able to set up 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...
near Kalia called Beit HaArava
Beit HaArava
Beit HaArava is an Israeli settlement and kibbutz in the West Bank. Located near the Dead Sea and Jericho at the eponymous Beit HaArava Junction, the intersection of Highway 1 and Highway 90, it falls under the jurisdiction of Megilot Regional Council...
, which facilitated successful experiments in raising crops on hypersaline soil. Novomeysky received permission despite the British White Paper of 1939
White Paper of 1939
The White Paper of 1939, also known as the MacDonald White Paper after Malcolm MacDonald, the British Colonial Secretary who presided over it, was a policy paper issued by the British government under Neville Chamberlain in which the idea of partitioning the Mandate for Palestine, as recommended in...
, which sought to restrict further Jewish immigration into Palestine and prevent new settlements from being built, because the kibbutz was a residence for his workers. By 1943, 100 Jewish families were living in Beit HaArava, which boasted fish ponds, eucalyptus, cypress, pines, and flowers.
By 1940 the Palestine Potash Company was responsible for half of the country's industrial export, and it supplied half of Britain's demand during World War II. In 1946 Novomeysky founded a fertiliser and chemicals company.
1948 Arab-Israeli War
Building a good relationship with the local Arab population was important to Novomeysky. He mastered the Arabic languageArabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
and was known to locals as "the doctor." Novomeysky had also maintained ties with King Abdullah I of Jordan
Abdullah I of Jordan
Abdullah I bin al-Hussein, King of Jordan [‘Abd Allāh ibn al-Husayn] عبد الله الأول بن الحسين born in Mecca, Second Saudi State, was the second of three sons of Sherif Hussein bin Ali, Sharif and Emir of Mecca and his first wife Abdiyya bint Abdullah...
, whose Emirate, now a country, lay just across the Jordan River from the northern shore concession.
Due to Novomeysky's reputation, the kibbutzim were spared from the anti-Jewish riots of 1936-39. Many of its Arab labourers hailed from nearby Jericho
Jericho
Jericho ; is a city located near the Jordan River in the West Bank of the Palestinian territories. It is the capital of the Jericho Governorate and has a population of more than 20,000. Situated well below sea level on an east-west route north of the Dead Sea, Jericho is the lowest permanently...
.
From 18 April 1948, the British ceased escorting convoys from Jerusalem to the northern shore facilities. As the prospect of war between the Arabs and the Zionists increased at the close of the British Mandate, Novomeysky tried to foster peace with Adbullah, attempting to strike a deal that would spare the potash works due to their value to both sides as well as the British. Having twice flown to Amman
Amman
Amman is the capital of Jordan. It is the country's political, cultural and commercial centre and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The Greater Amman area has a population of 2,842,629 as of 2010. The population of Amman is expected to jump from 2.8 million to almost...
for negotiations, on 13 May 1948 an agreement was reached with the Transjordanian delegation whereby a neutral zone would be created to protect the facilities. He travelled to Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
on 14 May in order to share these results with David Ben-Gurion
David Ben-Gurion
' was the first Prime Minister of Israel.Ben-Gurion's passion for Zionism, which began early in life, led him to become a major Zionist leader and Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization in 1946...
, the Zionist leader and soon Prime Minister of Israel
Prime Minister of Israel
The Prime Minister of Israel is the head of the Israeli government and the most powerful political figure in Israel . The prime minister is the country's chief executive. The official residence of the prime minister, Beit Rosh Hamemshala is in Jerusalem...
.
Ben-Gurion couldn't immediately meet him due to preparations for Israel's Declaration of Independence, and when Moshe Novomeysky was injured in an automobile accident
Car accident
A traffic collision, also known as a traffic accident, motor vehicle collision, motor vehicle accident, car accident, automobile accident, Road Traffic Collision or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other stationary obstruction,...
, he was unable to attend to finalising the understandings. On 17 May, representatives of the Palestine Potash Company and the Haganah
Haganah
Haganah was a Jewish paramilitary organization in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine from 1920 to 1948, which later became the core of the Israel Defense Forces.- Origins :...
signed an agreement putting both northern and southern facilities under Transjordanian custody, in contradiction to the previous agreements. The Haganah command rejected the new agreement as well, but due to his hospitalisation, Novomeysky was unable to use his Transjordanian contacts to remedy the situation.
As other Jewish settlements in Arab-controlled areas were subject to massacres
Kfar Etzion massacre
The Kfar Etzion massacre was an act committed by Arab armed forces on May 13, 1948, the day before the Declaration of Independence of the state of Israel.-Background:...
, the residents of Kalia grew apprehensive. After the Naharayim
Naharayim
Naharayim is a site on the border between Israel and Jordan where an hydroelectric power-plant was established in 1930. The Yarmuk River flows into the Jordan River at Naharayim. The plant, established by Pinchas Rutenberg, produced much of the energy consumed in the British Mandate of Palestine...
power plant, which straddles the Jordan River, had its Jewish employees taken prisoner by the Jordanians, the mistrust grew. Ben-Gurion ultimately ordered Kalia and Beit HaAravah evacuated, and on May 19 and May 20, 1948, hundreds of workers, kibbutz members, and the Palmach
Palmach
The Palmach was the elite fighting force of the Haganah, the underground army of the Yishuv during the period of the British Mandate of Palestine. The Palmach was established on May 15, 1941...
security contingent fled on a "fleet" of 17 small boats to the Mount Sodom complex, having sabotaged the factory's equipment to prevent the now enemy from using them. Abdullah's Arab Legion
Arab Legion
The Arab Legion was the regular army of Transjordan and then Jordan in the early part of the 20th century.-Creation:...
entered the site, which had already been vandalised by locals, on May 22, and completely destroyed both the Potash facilities and the kibbutzim.
After the establishment of the state
In November 1948, Israel's provisional governmentProvisional government of Israel
The provisional government of Israel was the temporary cabinet which governed Israel from shortly before independence until the formation of the first government in March 1949 following the first Knesset elections in January that year....
appointed a commission to examine the Palestine Phosphate Company's operations and determine what action, if any, the government should take. The Yishuv
Yishuv
The Yishuv or Ha-Yishuv is the term referring to the body of Jewish residents in Palestine before the establishment of the State of Israel...
's attitudes towards the company were mixed, on the one hand recognising its important contributions to the economy, and on the other hostile to its British directors. The commission acted to expel the British interests and to modify the concession's terms. At the same time, Novomeysky, 75 years of age, was forced out. Following the commission's recommendations, conditions were set to allow continued operation of the company, which were not met.
The Israeli government decided in December 1951 to start a new company, the Dead Sea Works Ltd.
Dead Sea Works
The Dead Sea Works is an Israeli potash plant in Sdom, on the Dead Sea coast of Israel.-History:The company was established in 1930 by Moshe Novomeysky. It was known then as the Palestine Potash Company...
The new company acquired all the property of the Palestine Potash Company in July 1952, but was run without making use of the previous company's considerable experience. In the face of decreasing productivity, Mordechai Maklef was appointed director, and he soon turned around and improved the operations.
Novomeysky maintained contact with Adbullah, in hope of restoring his business. In 1957, the Technion awarded Novomeysky an honorary doctorate in the technical sciences. He died in 1961 at the age of 87, and was buried in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
's Trumpeldor cemetery
Trumpeldor cemetery
Trumpeldor cemetery , often referred to as the "Old Cemetery," is a historic cemetery on Trumpeldor Street in Tel Aviv, Israel. The cemetery covers 10.6 acres, and contains approximately 5,000 graves.-History:...
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