Ashalim ( he, אֲשָׁלִים) is a small
community settlement
A community settlement ( he, יישוב קהילתי, ''Yishuv Kehilati'') is a type of village in Israel and the West Bank. While in an ordinary town anyone may buy property, in a community settlement the village's residents are organized in ...
in southern
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
Negev
The Negev or Negeb (; he, הַנֶּגֶב, hanNegév; ar, ٱلنَّقَب, an-Naqab) is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its southe ...
desert about 35 km south of
Be'er Sheva
Beersheba or Beer Sheva, officially Be'er-Sheva ( he, בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע, ''Bəʾēr Ševaʿ'', ; ar, بئر السبع, Biʾr as-Sabʿ, Well of the Oath or Well of the Seven), is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. ...
and on the eastern side of
Nahal Besor
The Besor ( he, נחל הבשור, ''Nahal HaBesor'') is a wadi in southern Israel. The stream begins at Mount Boker (near Sde Boker), and spills into the Mediterranean Sea near Al-Zahra in the Gaza Strip, where it is called Wadi Gaza ( ar, وا ...
, the largest stream in the Negev, it falls under the jurisdiction of the
Ramat HaNegev Regional Council
Ramat HaNegev Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית רמת הנגב, ''Mo'atza Azorit Ramat HaNegev'', ''lit.'' Negev Heights Regional Council) is a regional council in the Negev desert in Israel. With around 8,000 residents spread across ...
. In its population was . Nearby settlements include
Ezuz
Ezuz ( he, עֱזוּז) is a small community settlement in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Named for Nahal Ezuz, a dry riverbed, it is located to the south of Nitzana and falls under the jurisdiction of the Ramat HaNegev Regional Council ...
and
Nitzana.
History
The original village of Ashalim was one of three
nahal settlements
Nahal settlements ( he, היאחזות נח"ל, ''Heahzut Nahal'') were settlements established by Nahal soldiers in Israel and Israeli-occupied territories. Supporting Jewish settlement growth and expansion throughout Israel was once the main f ...
founded between
Mashabei Sadeh
Mashabei Sadeh ( he, מַשְׁאַבֵּי שָׂדֶה) is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located in the Negev desert, it falls under the jurisdiction of Ramat HaNegev Regional Council. In it had a population of .
History
The kibbutz was estab ...
and
Nitzana in 1956. The name itself means
Tamarix
The genus ''Tamarix'' (tamarisk, salt cedar, taray) is composed of about 50–60 species of flowering plants in the family Tamaricaceae, native to drier areas of Eurasia and Africa. The generic name originated in Latin and may refer to the Tam ...
es, a genus of shrubs and small trees.
The new Ashalim was founded as
moshav shitufi
A moshav shitufi ( he, מושב שיתופי, lit. ''collective moshav'', pl. ''moshavim shitufiim'') is a type of cooperative Israeli village, whose organizational principles place it between the kibbutz and the moshav on the scale of cooperation ...
in 1979 after moving from Bir Asluj Hill close to Golda Park, a nearby artificial lake. Today Ashalim functions as a community settlement.
Kfar Adiel students village
In 2003 Kfar Adiel, a village for students of the
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) ( he, אוניברסיטת בן-גוריון בנגב, ''Universitat Ben-Guriyon baNegev'') is a public research university in Beersheba, Israel. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev has five campuses: the ...
, was founded near Ashalim by the Ayalim Association, whose objective is to establish settlements for students and small entrepreneurs in the
Negev
The Negev or Negeb (; he, הַנֶּגֶב, hanNegév; ar, ٱلنَّقَب, an-Naqab) is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its southe ...
and the
Galilee
Galilee (; he, הַגָּלִיל, hagGālīl; ar, الجليل, al-jalīl) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Galilee traditionally refers to the mountainous part, divided into Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and Lower Galil ...
.
Economy
Ashalim is one of a number of development sites for
solar power in Israel
The use of solar energy began in Israel in the 1950s with the development by Levi Yissar of a solar water heater to address the energy shortages that plagued the new country.Petrotyranny by John C. Bacher, David Suzuki, published by Dundurn ...
. In 2008 construction began on three solar power plants near the settlement; two
thermal
A thermal column (or thermal) is a rising mass of buoyant air, a convective current in the atmosphere, that transfers heat energy vertically. Thermals are created by the uneven heating of Earth's surface from solar radiation, and are an example ...
and one
photovoltaic
Photovoltaics (PV) is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect, a phenomenon studied in physics, photochemistry, and electrochemistry. The photovoltaic effect is commercially us ...
.
Solar energy could raise electricity prices
Haaretz, 6 August 2008 The 121MW Ashalim Power Station
The Ashalim power station is a concentrated solar power station in the Negev desert near the kibbutz of Ashalim, south of the district city of Be'er Sheva in Israel. It consists of three plots with three different technologies the station combi ...
began producing power in 2018.
References
External links
Ashalim
Negev Information Center
{{Ramat Negev Regional Council
Former moshavim
Community settlements
Populated places established in 1979
Populated places in Southern District (Israel)