Shomria ( he, שׁוֹמְרִיָּה) 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 southern

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 near

Lehavim Lehavim ( he, לְהָבִים) is an affluent village in southern Israel. Founded in 1983 and located in the northern Negev around 15 km north of Beersheba, it is a local council. In it had a population of . History Lehavim, originally ...

, 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 .

History

Shomria was first established 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 ...

. In 1985, it became a civilian kibbutz inhabited by members of the left-wing

Hashomer Hatzair Hashomer Hatzair ( he, הַשׁוֹמֵר הַצָעִיר, , ''The Young Guard'') is a Labor Zionist, secular Jewish youth movement founded in 1913 in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Austria-Hungary, and it was also the name of the group ...

movement. This was a period of great hardship, even for long-established kibbutzim, and Shomria was not able to develop economically, nor to attract enough members. Following the implementation of the Gaza disengagement plan in 2005, its members were offered to vacate the entire place in exchange for compensation, so that Shomria could be offered as a new home for settlers evacuated from the Gaza Strip. The kibbutz members agreed, and 60 families from the former

settlement Settlement may refer to: *Human settlement, a community where people live *Settlement (structural), the distortion or disruption of parts of a building * Closing (real estate), the final step in executing a real estate transaction *Settlement (fin ...

Bnei Atzmon Bnei Atzmon ( he, בְּנֵי עַצְמוֹן) was an Israeli settlement previously in the Sinai Peninsula, later moved to the Gaza Strip before being destroyed in 2005. History Bnei Atzmon was founded in 1979 in the Yamit region of the S ...

moved to Shomria in 2006. The new community fared well economically, and more evacuees joined. Around 2010, Shomria started moving towards renewed membership in the kibbutz movement, despite some ideological differences.

References

{{Bnei Shimon Regional Council Kibbutzim Kibbutz Movement Nahal settlements Populated places established in 1985 Populated places in Southern District (Israel) 1985 establishments in Israel