PikiWiki Israel 29331 Sunrise club hotel in Kibbutz Eilot

Eilot ( he, אֵילוֹת; is the southernmost

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 ...

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 ...

. It is located in the Aravah valley, near the border with

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

. Eilot is less than a kilometer north of

Eilat Eilat ( , ; he, אֵילַת ; ar, إِيلَات, Īlāt) is Israel's southernmost city, with a population of , a busy port and popular resort at the northern tip of the Red Sea, on what is known in Israel as the Gulf of Eilat and in Jordan ...

, and just over 3 kilometers north of the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...

. It falls under the jurisdiction of

Hevel Eilot Regional Council Hevel Eilot Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית חבל אילות, ''Mo'atza Azorit Hevel Eilot'') is a regional council in the Southern District of Israel, near the city of Eilat. It is the southernmost regional council in Israel. ...

. In it had a population of . It is noted for its

date Date or dates may refer to: *Date (fruit), the fruit of the date palm (''Phoenix dactylifera'') Social activity *Dating, a form of courtship involving social activity, with the aim of assessing a potential partner **Group dating *Play date, an ...

orchard 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 larg ...

, though

vegetable Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the flowers, fruits, stems, ...

s, other

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

and

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

are major industries.

Etymology

The origin of the name of the settlement is in the biblical city of Eilat, near

Ezion-Geber Ezion-Geber ( Ancient: ''Ġeṣyōn Geḇer''; also Asiongaber) is a city only known from the Hebrew Bible, in Idumea, a seaport on the northern extremity of the Gulf of Aqaba, in modern terms somewhere in the area of modern Aqaba and Eilat. Acco ...

, also called "Eilot". It was seen also in the

I Kings The Book of Kings (, '' Sēfer Məlāḵīm'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Kings) in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. It concludes the Deuteronomistic history, a history of Israel also including the books ...

9:26: "And

King Solomon King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

made a

navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

ships A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...

, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the

, in the land of

Edom Edom (; Edomite: ; he, אֱדוֹם , lit.: "red"; Akkadian: , ; Ancient Egyptian: ) was an ancient kingdom in Transjordan, located between Moab to the northeast, the Arabah to the west, and the Arabian Desert to the south and east.N ...

." (9:26). The Eloth mentioned in the verse is likely close to the present-day location of Kibbutz Eilot. In July 14th, 1962, it was agreed by a majority of votes to determine the new name for the kibbutz.

History

Kibbutz Eilot was begun by a group of 15 young people who descended to Eilat on June 16, 1955, on the advice of

Yitzhak Tabenkin Yitzhak Tabenkin ( he, יצחק טבנקין, 8 January 1888 – 6 June 1971) was a Zionist activist and Israeli politician. He was one of the founders of the kibbutz Movement. Biography Yitzchak Tabenkin was born in Babruysk in the Russian Emp ...

, who believed that kibbutzim should be established throughout Israel. The descent to Eilat was contrary to the views held by the government and the Jewish Agency at that time. The members settled in the three huts of Umm Rashresh, on the shore of the Red Sea, and engaged in agriculture in preparation for the establishment of a permanent settlement. In 1959, it was decided to establish the permanent location of the kibbutz in

Nahal Roded Nahal ( he, נח"ל) (acronym of ''Noar Halutzi Lohem'', lit. Fighting Pioneer Youth) is a program that combines military service with mostly social welfare and informal education projects such as youth movement activities, as well as training ...

, on the site of a former Arab village and where fertile lands were found. It began with the construction of buildings and members of the kibbutz moved to the site at the end of 1962. The official

Aliyah Aliyah (, ; he, עֲלִיָּה ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel, which is in the modern era chiefly represented by the Israel, State of Israel ...

ceremony took place in December 1962, the kibbutz then numbering 60 people, half of whom were members of the kibbutz and the other half reinforcements sent by the United Kibbutz Movement. They were allocated 700 dunams for agricultural cultivation, of which 300 dunams began to grow dates, vegetables and fruits. There was also an industrial laundry which served the Eilat hotels, ships docked at the

port of Eilat The Port of Eilat ( he, נמל אילת) is the only Israeli port on the Red Sea, located at the northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba. History The Port of Eilat was declared in 1952, and constructed between 1952-56. Today it is mainly used for tradi ...

and nearby Kibbutz

Yotvata :''"Yotvat" is also the Hebrew name for Tiran Island''. Yotvata ( he, יׇטְבָתָה, ar, يوتفاتا) is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located on the Arabah road in the southern Negev, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hevel Eilot Regi ...

. The kibbutz also had a commercial fishing operation for a time, and set up a dairy farm and chicken runs. They also established a factory for the production of

transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the Autobots and the Decepticons, two alien robot factions at war that can transform into other forms, suc ...

. Today tourism is also a major industry.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Eilat Kibbutzim Kibbutz Movement Populated places established in 1963 Populated places in Southern District (Israel) 1963 establishments in Israel