Balfouria () is a

moshav A moshav ( he, מוֹשָׁב, plural ', lit. ''settlement, village'') is a type of Israeli town or settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 an ...

in northern Israel, south of

Nazareth Nazareth ( ; ar, النَّاصِرَة, ''an-Nāṣira''; he, נָצְרַת, ''Nāṣəraṯ''; arc, ܢܨܪܬ, ''Naṣrath'') is the largest city in the Northern District of Israel. Nazareth is known as "the Arab capital of Israel". In ...

. Located near Afula, it falls under the jurisdiction of

Jezreel Valley Regional Council Jezreel Valley Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית עמק יזרעאל, ''Mo'atza Azorit Emek Yizra'el'') is a regional council in northern Israel that encompasses most of the settlements in the Jezreel Valley. It includes 15 kibbutzim, ...

. 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 The American Zion Commonwealth ( he, קהילת ציון אמריקאית) was a Zionist settlement corporation that played an important part in the Jewish settlement of Palestine before the establishment of the State of Israel. The American Zio ...

, and Keren Hayesod acquired equipment. The

was founded in 1922, the third to be established in

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

, and was named after The 1st Earl of Balfour, writer of the

Balfour Declaration The Balfour Declaration was a public statement issued by the British government in 1917 during the First World War announcing its support for the establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine, then an Ottoman regio ...

(who consented to lending his name to the settlement), which embraced Zionist plans for a Jewish "national home". According to a census 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 Merhavia ( he, מֶרְחַבְיָה, lit. "Space of God") is a moshav in northern Israel. It falls under the jurisdiction of Jezreel Valley Regional Council and in had a population of . Founded in 1911, it was the first modern Jewish settlemen ...

, as well as many settlers from

Petah Tikva Petah Tikva ( he, פֶּתַח תִּקְוָה, , ), also known as ''Em HaMoshavot'' (), is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel, east of Tel Aviv. It was founded in 1878, mainly by Haredi Judaism, Haredi Jews of ...

. 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

and leasing agreements were signed with Keren Hayesod. 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 water company was sealed. בלפוריה - מראה-JNF007863

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