Magal ( he, מַגָּל, ''lit.'' Sickle) is a

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 ...

. Located in the

Wadi Ara Wadi Ara ( ar, وادي عارة, he, ואדי עארה) or Nahal 'Iron ( he, נחל עירון), is a valley and its surrounding area in Israel populated mainly by Arab Israelis. The area is also known as the "Northern Triangle". Wadi Ara is ...

region of the northern

Sharon plain The Sharon plain ( ''HaSharon Arabic: سهل شارون Sahel Sharon'') is the central section of the Israeli coastal plain. The plain lies between the Mediterranean Sea to the west and the Samarian Hills, to the east. It stretches from Nahal ...

near the Green Line, it falls under the jurisdiction of

Menashe Regional Council The Menashe Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית מנשה, ''Mo'atza Azorit Menasheh'') is a regional council near the city of Hadera, on Israel's north-central coastal plain in the southern Haifa District. It is named after the tribe of ...

. In it had a population of . The kibbutz was named after the sickle on the Nahal's badge.

History

Kibbutz Magal was founded in 1953 as a

Nahal settlement Nahal settlements ( he, היאחזות נח"ל, ''Heahzut Nahal'') were settlements established by Nahal soldiers in Israel and Israeli-occupied territories Israeli-occupied territories are the lands that were captured and occupied by Isra ...

on a hill overlooking the Samaria hills and what was then 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 ...

. The kibbutz sits on a hill known from the War of Independence as the "86th Regiment"—on any elevation of the hill above the sea level (86 meters). The kibbutz was founded by the Tzofim battalion, but when they left, Nahal members began to settle there, which continued to reach it until the 1980s. In 2005, construction began on a new residential neighborhood on the outskirts of the kibbutz. The first stage of the project was completed in April 2009.

Economy

In the past, the economy was based on citrus orchards, avocado plantations and cotton and other field crops. Today the kibbutz grows olives, almonds and pomegranates. It also manufactures and markets olive oil and provides catering services. Since the 1970s, the kibbutz has been the co-owner of

Netafim Netafim is an Israeli manufacturer of irrigation equipment. The company produces drippers, dripperlines, sprinklers and micro-emitters. Netafim also manufactures and distributes crop management technologies, including monitoring and control syste ...

, now an international corporation for irrigation and dripping products. Since the late 1990s the kibbutz has been undergoing privatization. Today it is almost completely privatized and considered economically viable.Magal, A modern Israeli Kibbutz
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References

{{Authority control Kibbutzim Kibbutz Movement Nahal settlements Populated places established in 1953 Populated places in Haifa District 1953 establishments in Israel