![JezreelValley](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/JezreelValley.jpg)
Balfouria () is a
moshav 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 ...
, south of
Nazareth. Located near
Afula
Afula ( he, עפולה Arabic: العفولة) is a city in the Northern District of Israel, often known as the "Capital of the Valley" due to its strategic location in the Jezreel Valley. As of , the city had a population of .
Afula's ancient ...
, it falls under the jurisdiction of
Jezreel Valley Regional Council. As of it had a population of .
History
The initial core of settlers assembled in 1919 and began training for the establishment of an agricultural settlement. A tract of land was purchased with the funds of the
American Zion Commonwealth, and
Keren Hayesod
Keren Hayesod – United Israel Appeal ( he, קרן היסוד, literally "The Foundation Fund") is an official fundraising organization for Israel with branches in 45 countries. Its work is carried out in accordance with the Keren haYesod Law-5 ...
acquired equipment. The
moshav was founded in 1922, the third to be established in
Palestine, and was named after
The 1st Earl of Balfour, writer of the
Balfour Declaration (who consented to lending his name to the settlement
), which embraced Zionist plans for a Jewish "national home". According to a
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
conducted in 1922 by the
British Mandate authorities, Balfouria had a population of 18 Jews.
According to a
Jewish National Fund
Jewish National Fund ( he, קֶרֶן קַיֶּימֶת לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, ''Keren Kayemet LeYisrael'', previously , ''Ha Fund HaLeumi'') was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman Syria (later Mandatory Palestine, and subseq ...
publication of 1949, Balfouria was the first village to be founded in Palestine after the Balfour Declaration.
The founders were joined by former
kibbutz
A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...
residents, a number of people from the
Co-operative in Merhavia, as well as many settlers from
Petah Tikva. The houses and dairy barns built with the funds of the Commonwealth were of concrete and had shingled roofs, thus earning the settlers of Balfouria the sobriquet "the millionaires". Lord Balfour visited the moshav in 1925 and gave the settlers his blessings.
In 1939, the lands of the moshav were transferred to the
Jewish National Fund
Jewish National Fund ( he, קֶרֶן קַיֶּימֶת לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, ''Keren Kayemet LeYisrael'', previously , ''Ha Fund HaLeumi'') was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman Syria (later Mandatory Palestine, and subseq ...
and leasing agreements were signed with
Keren Hayesod
Keren Hayesod – United Israel Appeal ( he, קרן היסוד, literally "The Foundation Fund") is an official fundraising organization for Israel with branches in 45 countries. Its work is carried out in accordance with the Keren haYesod Law-5 ...
. In 1934, the settlers completed the digging of a new well which increased agricultural activity in the area. In 1959, the connection with the
Mekorot
Mekorot ( he, מקורות, lit. "Sources") is the national water company of Israel and the country's top agency for water management. Founded in 1937, it supplies Israel with 90% of its drinking water and operates a cross-country water supply ne ...
water company was sealed.
Balfouria nature reserve
North-east of the moshav are an ancient
tell and springs - remnants of the Valley's swamps - that were declared a 45-
dunam
A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; tr, dönüm; he, דונם), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area equivalent to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amount ...
nature reserve, in 1979.
Atop of the tell, a monument was erected in honor of the moshav's founders and those who fell in Israel's wars.
Sports
The local football club,
Hapoel Balfouria, spent two seasons in the top division in the mid-1950s. However, they later folded.
References
{{Arthur Balfour, state=collapsed
Moshavim
Populated places established in 1922
Jewish villages in Mandatory Palestine
Nature reserves in Israel
Populated places in Northern District (Israel)
1922 establishments in Mandatory Palestine