Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
equal in income and privileges. There is no such thing as private property; everything belongs
equally to all members. All decisions are made democratically in meetings by majority vote.
In most kibbutzim in earlier years, children lived together in crèches, and jobs rotated on a
regular basis. But these practices were abandoned long ago.
Many kibbutzim were profi table agricultural enterprises during Israel's early years. A sig-
nifi cant proportion of Israel's top military offi cers have come from kibbutz backgrounds. In
the 1980s, however, Israel suffered from massive infl ation and an economic slowdown. Many
kibbutzim went deeply into debt, and government bailouts did not prevent a crisis. A combi-
nation of factors — materialism and individual ambition — facilitated their decline.
Since the 1990s, many kibbutzim have made major changes to let members take outside
jobs, to permit private property (including automobiles), to engage professional managers
for their enterprises, to rent out housing to nonmembers, to charge members for food and
services, to offer varying pay levels for different jobs, and /or to use outside workers in kibbutz
industries. These innovations have been successful for some kibbutzim, which have gone into
light industry, tourism, and retail enterprises. Others, often with locations on the country's
periphery, continue to be swamped by debt.
One of the biggest success stories is Ma'agan Michael, the largest kibbutz in the country,
with more than 1,400 residents. Founded in August 1949, its diversifi ed economy now includes
fi eld crops (cotton, avocados, and papayas), banana orchards, poultry, dairy cows, and fi sh
farming; the fi sh are either edible carp, gray mullet, and striped bass, or ornamental goldfi sh,
sold to Japanese collectors. The main source of income and employment is a plastics factory
that makes pipe fi ttings, animal feeding systems, and toilet parts. A second factory produces
metal parts and plating.
A number of experiments with new types of kibbutz have been conducted. In 1987, a group
of young people established the Tamuz kibbutz in the town of Beit Shemesh, with seventeen
families sharing their property and work. In 1980, Hararit was founded in the southern Galilee;
fi fty families live there in a community built around transcendental meditation. One kibbutz
produces and markets vegetarian food products; another raises pigs. Still another, formerly
a poor fi shing village, has opened a hugely successful shopping mall. The kibbutz sector has
become less important in Israel over time, but it still plays a disproportionate role in shaping
the country.
Moshavim are agriculture-based communities, usually of sixty to a hundred families, whose
members farm their own land and own their own houses but cooperate over some elements
of equipment ownership and marketing. The fi rst two moshavim, established in 1921, were
Nahalal and Kfar Yehezkel.
In the 1980s, moshavim were affected by the economic recession, which brought down
the prices they received for their products. On many moshavim, people who held other jobs
bought houses and turned over the farmland to professional managers. Many moshavim ex-
panded and allowed new neighborhoods to be built on their land.
Arab Towns and Villages
Arab citizens of Israel form either the majority or totality of residents in 122 towns and villages,
89 of which have more than 2,000 people. About half live in the north, including the mixed
 
 
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