Meirav ( he, מֵירַב) is a religious

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 ...

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 ...

. Located on the downward slopes of

Mount Gilboa Mount Gilboa ( he, הַר הַגִּלְבֹּעַ, translit=Har hagGīlbōaʿ ; ar, جبل جلبوع ''Jabal Jarbūʿ'' or ''Jabal Fuqqāʿa''), sometimes referred to as the Mountains of Gilboa, is the name for a mountain range in Israel. It ...

around ten kilometres southwest of

Beit She'an Beit She'an ( he, בֵּית שְׁאָן '), also Beth-shean, formerly Beisan ( ar, بيسان ), is a town in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. The town lies at the Beit She'an Valley about 120 m (394 feet) below se ...

and less than 500 metres from the Green Line, it falls under the jurisdiction of

Valley of Springs Regional Council Emek HaMa'ayanot Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית עמק המעיינות, ''Mo'atza Azorit Emek HaMa'ayanot'', lit. ''Valley of the Springs Regional Council'') is a regional council (Israel), regional council in the Northern Distric ...

. In it had a population of .

Etymology

Some people connect the name "Meirav" to the story of

Saul Saul (; he, , ; , ; ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the first monarch of the United Kingdom of Israel. His reign, traditionally placed in the late 11th century BCE, supposedly marked the transition of Israel and Judah from a scattered tri ...

's death in the

Battle of Gilboa Saul (; he, , ; , ; ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the first monarch of the United Kingdom of Israel. His reign, traditionally placed in the late 11th century BCE, supposedly marked the transition of Israel and Judah from a scattered tri ...

against the

Philistines The Philistines ( he, פְּלִשְׁתִּים, Pəlīštīm; Koine Greek (LXX): Φυλιστιείμ, romanized: ''Phulistieím'') were an ancient people who lived on the south coast of Canaan from the 12th century BC until 604 BC, when ...

, which is believed to have occurred nearby, because Saul's oldest daughter was named Meirav (1 Samuel 14:50). However, the name can also be interpreted as meaning "a lot of water" and " the most of".

History

The kibbutz was founded initially 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 ...

Mount Malkishua Malkishua ( he, מלכישוע) is a drug rehabilitation centre in the form of a village in north-eastern Israel. Located on Mount Malkishua in the Gilboa, it falls under the jurisdiction of Valley of Springs Regional Council. In it had a pop ...

in 1982, and is the newest religious kibbutz in the country. In 1987, it moved to its current location on Mount Avinadav. Meirav is located just south of another religious kibbutz,

Ma'ale Gilboa Ma'ale Gilboa ( he, מַעֲלֵה גִּלְבּוֹעַ, ''lit.'' Gilboa Ascent) is a religious kibbutz located on the summit of Mount Gilboa, on the northeast end of the ridge of the Samarian hills in Israel. Located about 5 km west of Bei ...

. As they are both religious kibbutzim, it was decided that although they are located in the Gilboa mountains (and would naturally fall under the jurisdiction of

Gilboa Regional Council Gilboa Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית הגלבוע, ''Mo'atza Azorit (ha)Gilbo'a'') is a regional council in northern Israel, located on the slopes of the Gilboa mountain range. There are more than 22,000 residents in 38 settlemen ...

), it would be better to include them in Beit She'an Valley Regional Council, where there is a group of religious kibbutzim, including

Ein HaNatziv Ein or EIN may refer to: Science and technology * Ein function, in mathematics * Endometrial intraepithelial neoplasia, a lesion of the uterine lining * Equivalent input noise, of a microphone * European Informatics Network, a 1970s computer netw ...

Sde Eliyahu Sde Eliyahu ( he, שְׂדֵה אֵלִיָּהוּ, ''lit.'' Eliyahu Field) is a religious kibbutz in northern Israel. Located five kilometres south of Beit She'an, it falls under the jurisdiction of Valley of Springs Regional Council. In it ...

Shluhot Shluhot ( he, שִׁלוּחוֹת, ''lit.'' Branches) is an Orthodox kibbutz in the Beit She'an Valley in northern Israel. Located about three kilometres south of the city of Beit She'an, it falls under the jurisdiction of Valley of Springs Reg ...

and

Tirat Zvi Tirat Zvi ( he, טִירַת צְבִי, lit. ''Zvi Castle'') is a religious kibbutz in the Beit She'an Valley, ten kilometers south of the city of Beit She'an, Israel, just west of the Jordan River and the Israel-Jordan border. It falls under the ...

. On 18 November 2011, ''

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner f ...

'' reported that the route of the

separation barrier A separation barrier or separation wall is a barrier, wall or fence, constructed to limit the movement of people across a certain line or border, or to separate peoples or cultures. A separation barrier that runs along an internationally recogni ...

near kibbutz Meirav has been changed so that about 1,500 dunams (375 acres) of

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

land would be on the Israeli side. Assigned to the kibbutz by the

Israel Lands Administration The Israel Land Administration (ILA; he, מנהל מקרקעי ישראל, Minhal Mekarka'ei Yisra'el; ar, مديرية أراضي اسرائيل) is an Israeli government authority responsible for managing land in Israel which is in the public d ...

(ILA), the parcel of privately owned Palestinian land, which was registered as such with the Israeli authorities, was transferred to the kibbutz, which is located about seven kilometers northwest of it. It is thought to be the first instance of Palestinian-owned land being transferred to a community on Israeli territory within the Green line. According to ''Haaretz'', the ILA, which has no authority in the West Bank and had no right to transfer the privately owned Palestinian land to the kibbutz, informed the kibbutz in January 2012 that the land was being removed from their allotted slot. Nevertheless, the kibbutz continued to cultivate the land. As ''Haaretz'' reports, the land is to be returned to its Palestinian owners after the ILA admitted its mistake in a letter to the Palestinian landowner's attorney in February 2013.

References

{{Authority control Kibbutzim Religious Kibbutz Movement Populated places established in 1982 Populated places established in 1987 Nahal settlements 1987 establishments in Israel Populated places in Northern District (Israel)