Nevatim ( he, נְבָטִים) 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 southern Israel. Located in the northern Negev desert around south-east of Beersheba, it falls under the jurisdiction of

Bnei Shimon Regional Council The Bnei Shimon Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית בני שמעון, ''Mo'atza Azorit Bnei Shim'on'', ''lit.'' Regional Council 'Sons of Shimon'), is a regional council in the northern Negev in the south of Israel. Most of its terri ...

. In it had a population of . The nearest settlements are the Bedouin towns of Tel as-Sabi to the north and

Shaqib al-Salam Shaqib al-Salam ( ar, شقيب السلام) or Segev Shalom ( he, שֶׂגֶב שָׁלוֹם) and also known as Shqeb as-Salam, is a Bedouin town and a local council in the Southern District of Israel, southeast of Beersheba. In it had a po ...

to the south. At a greater distance to the northeast lies Nevatim Israeli Air Force Base, named after the moshav.

History

Nevatim was originally established in 1946 by Jewish olim from Hungary as one of the

11 points in the Negev 11 points in the Negev ( he, 11 הנקודות or he2, אחת-עשרה הנקודות, ''Akhat-Esre HaNekudot'') refers to a Jewish Agency plan to establish 11 settlements in the Negev in 1946 prior to the partition of Palestine and the establishm ...

, its name taken from the Tanakh. In the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 (or First) Arab–Israeli War was the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. It formally began following the end of the British Mandate for Palestine at midnight on 14 May 1948; the Israeli Declaration of Independence had ...

the surrounding area, including the city of Beersheba, was briefly captured by the Egyptian Army. The Egyptians besieged Nevatim, along with the neighboring village of

Beit Eshel Beit Eshel ( he, בֵּית אֵשֶׁל) was a Jewish settlement established in the Negev desert in Mandate Palestine in 1943 as one of the three lookouts, alongside Revivim and Gvulot. It was located two kilometres southeast of Beersheba. Acco ...

which was destroyed and subsequently abandoned. Nevatim managed to hold on throughout the siege, as the villages received air-dropped supplies and most Egyptian efforts were concentrated on continuing northwards. Although both were dismantled after the war, Nevatim was re-established at a slightly different location in 1954 by Cochin Jews, who had immigrated from Kochi, India.

Economy

PikiWiki Israel 4510 Nevatim in the Negev

About half of Nevatim's workers are employed in the village, primarily in agriculture, while the rest work in the nearby industrial areas of Beersheba, Dimona and

Ramat Hovav Ramat Hovav ( he, רָמַת חוֹבָב), new official name Ne'ot Hovav (), is an industrial zone in southern Israel and the site of Israel's main hazardous waste disposal facility. Ramat Hovav Industrial Zone is the locus of 19 chemical facto ...

. Local employment has gradually diversified, especially into the tourism and service, a move sustained by the moshav's guest houses and the Cochin heritage center. The moshav's

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

is a duplicate of one in Cochin, and incorporates some elements of the original building. It also houses a cultural center and museum about the Jews of Cochin. A restaurant serving Cochini food and pastries caters to tourists. The community also has a swimming pool and a

mikvah Mikveh or mikvah (, ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvoth'', ''mikvot'', or (Yiddish) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve ritual purity. Most forms of ritual impurity can be purifi ...

. In May 2017, an extension of the railway from Beersheba to Arad via Kuseife was approved. The line would connect to the existing Beersheba- Dimona rail line at a proposed new rail station at Nevatim.

References

External links

Nevatim
Negev Information Center {{Bnei Shimon Regional Council Moshavim Populated places established in 1946 Cochin Jews Populated places in Southern District (Israel) 1946 establishments in Mandatory Palestine Hungarian-Jewish culture in Israel Indian-Jewish culture in Israel