Shefayim ( he, שְׁפָיִים, ''lit.'' High Hills) is a kibbutz in 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 2.5 miles north of
Herzliya
Herzliya ( ; he, הֶרְצְלִיָּה ; ar, هرتسليا, Hirtsiliyā) is an affluent city in the central coast of Israel, at the northern part of the Tel Aviv District, known for its robust start-up and entrepreneurial culture. In it h ...
along the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...
coast. Shefayim falls under the jurisdiction of
Hof HaSharon Regional Council
Hof HaSharon Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית חוף השרון, ''Mo'atza Azorit Hof HaSharon'', ''lit.'' Sharon Coast Regional Council), is a regional council in the Central and Tel Aviv districts of Israel. It is located on the co ...
Beit HaArava
Beit HaArava ( he, בֵּית הָעֲרָבָה, lit. ''House of the Arabah, Arava'') is an Israeli settlement and kibbutz in the West Bank. Located near the Dead Sea and Jericho at the eponymous Beit HaArava Junction, the intersection of Highwa ...
near the Dead Sea.
In the early 1970s, the kibbutz established Polycad, a plastics factory. In the early 1980s, it established the Shafit
biotechnology
Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used ...
plant. In the mid-1990s, it acquired the Zirei Israel plant, which has become a leader in the Israeli cotton-ginning industry.
In 2012 IBM acquired New York- and Shefayim-based mobile application developer Worklight Ltd., founded in 2006 by Shahar Kaminitz, formerly of
Amdocs
Amdocs ( he, אמדוקס) is a multinational corporation that was founded in Israel and currently headquartered in Chesterfield, Missouri, with support and development centers located worldwide. The company specializes in software and services ...
.
Economy
Kibbutz Shefayim is among the wealthiest kibbutzim and was one of the few that did not require debt assistance from the state and banks during the recession in the 1980s. On the contrary, Shefayim contributed NIS 4 million to help failing kibbutzim. The main income source of the kibbutz is Hutzot Shefayim, a shopping mall, on real-estate previously classified as agricultural land. Other sources of income are a hotel and conference center, and a water park.
Notable people
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Orit Noked
Orit Noked ( he, אורית נוקד, born 25 October 1952) is an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Independence and the Labor Party and as Minister of Agriculture.
Biography
Born in Jerusalem in 1952, Noked studied l ...
(born 1952), former member of the Knesset
* Rachel Shapira (born 1945), songwriter and poet
*