Afek ( he, אֲפֵק) is a kibbutz in northern

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. Located in the Zevulun Valley in the Western Galilee, near the archaeological site of

Tel Afek Tel Afek, ( he, תל אפק), also spelled Aphek and Afeq, is an archaeological site located in the coastal hinterland of the Ein Afek Nature Reserve, east of Kiryat Bialik, Israel. It is also known as Tel Kurdani. History Antiquity The site ...

and the

HaKerayot The Krayot ( he, הקריות, "townships") (plural of ''Kirya'') are a cluster of four small cities and two neighbourhoods of Haifa founded in the 1930s on the outskirts of the city of Haifa, Israel, in the Haifa Bay area. The Krayot include Ki ...

agglomeration, it falls under the jurisdiction of the Mateh Asher Regional Council. In it had a population of .

History

The kibbutz was founded in 1935 as ''Plugat HaYam'' ( he, פלוגת הים, lit. ''Sea Company'') on the dunes near present-day

Kiryat Haim Kiryat Haim ( he, קריית חיים , ar, كريات حاييم) is a neighborhood of Haifa, Israel. It is considered part of the Krayot cluster in the northern part of metropolitan Haifa. In 2008, Kiryat Haim had a population of just un ...

, with the goal of getting jobs in the

Port of Haifa The Port of Haifa ( he, נמל חיפה) is the largest of Israel's three major international seaports, the others being the Port of Ashdod, and the Port of Eilat. It has a natural deep-water harbor, which operates all year long, and serves both pa ...

. In 1938 the kibbutz was moved to the coast in the area of Acre as a " tower and stockade" settlement, and was renamed ''Mishmar HaYam'' ( he, משמר הים, lit. ''Sea Guard''). In 1947 the village moved again to its current location, this time a short distance inland on the same agricultural lands, based on the decision to abandon fishing and concentrate exclusively on agriculture. Its current name is derived from the adjacent

, a candidate for one of the biblical Apheks (Joshua 19:30). Afek has 200 members and over 450 residents. The kibbutz operates a

preschool A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary sch ...

and

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

that are open to the public. The kibbutz economy is based on crops,

orchards An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of lar ...

dairy farm Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a history th ...

ing, poultry farming, and

fish farming upright=1.3, Salmon farming in the sea (mariculture) at Loch Ainort, Isle of Skye">mariculture.html" ;"title="Salmon farming in the sea (mariculture">Salmon farming in the sea (mariculture) at Loch Ainort, Isle of Skye, Scotland Fish farming or ...

. It also has three factories: ''Asiv'' produces fabrics, ''Mego'' medical supplies, and ''Hinnanit'' dolls and clothing accessories. ''Hinnanit'' also exhibits and sells rugs made from the fabric produced on the kibbutz. File:אפק - המגדל והצריפים-JNF029025.jpeg, Kibbutz Afek, 2nd location, 1939 File:משמר הים בעמק זבולון - המגדל וחדר האוכל-JNF029033.jpeg, Afek 1939 File:אפק - מגדל הצופים על שפת ים עכו-JNF009941.jpeg, Afek, 1939

Notable people

* Avraham Givelber

References

{{Authority control Kibbutzim Kibbutz Movement Populated places established in 1935 Populated places established in 1938 Populated places established in 1947 1935 establishments in Mandatory Palestine Populated places in Northern District (Israel)