Shahar ( he, שַׁחַר, ''lit.'' Dawn) is a moshav in south-central

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 about three kilometres west of

Kiryat Gat Kiryat Gat, also spelled Qiryat Gat ( he, קִרְיַת גַּת), is a city in the Southern District of Israel. It lies south of Tel Aviv, north of Beersheba, and from Jerusalem. In it had a population of . The city hosts one of the most a ...

and one kilometre east of Nir Hen, it falls under the jurisdiction of

Lakhish Regional Council Lakhish Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית לכיש, ''Mo'atza Azorit Lakhish'') is a regional council in the Southern District of Israel. It surrounds the ancient city of Lakhish and the modern city of Kiryat Gat. It was founded in 1 ...

. In it had a population of .

History

The moshav was founded in 1955 as part of the program to populate the area with Jewish refugees from

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

and

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

immigrants from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

on the lands of the depopulated

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 ...

village of al-Faluja. Its name symbolizes the dawn of

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

settlement in Hevel Lakhish. The main industry that they developed was growing flowers for export, an enterprise which, despite the harsh desert climate, grew and prospered. One of Shahar's leading businessmen, Eliahu Bezalel, won the Kaplan Prize in 1994 and then the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (an award for Non-Resident Indians), in recognition of these achievements."Roses in the Desert", a chapter within ''The Last Jews of Kerala'' by Edna Fernanades, Porobelo Books, 2008

References

{{Lakhish Moshavim Populated places established in 1955 Populated places in Southern District (Israel) 1955 establishments in Israel Indian-Jewish culture in Israel North African-Jewish culture in Israel