Tel Katzir ( he, תֵּל קָצִיר, lit. "Harvest Hill") is a
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 to the south of the
Sea of Galilee
The Sea of Galilee ( he, יָם כִּנֶּרֶת, Judeo-Aramaic: יַמּא דטבריא, גִּנֵּיסַר, ar, بحيرة طبريا), also called Lake Tiberias, Kinneret or Kinnereth, is a freshwater lake in Israel. It is the lowest ...
, it falls under the jurisdiction of
Emek HaYarden Regional Council
Emek HaYarden Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית עמק הירדן, ''Mo'atza Azorit 'Emeq HaYarden'', ''lit.'' Jordan Valley Regional Council) is a regional council comprising much of the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, the southe ...
. In it had a population of .
History
The village was founded in 1949 by a
gar'in
Gar'in (, ''lit.'' kernel) is a Hebrew term used for groups of people who moved together to Ottoman Palestine, British Palestine, and since 1948, Israel.Joel Beinin The Dispersion of Egyptian Jewry- 2005 9774248902 "arrived in Israel while the m ...
of
Hebrew Scouts and a
kvutza
Kvutza, kevutza or kevutzah ( "group") is a communal settlement among Jews, primarily in pre-state Israel, the word was used in reference to communal life. First there were ''kvutzot'' (plural of kvutza) in the sense of groups of young people with ...
of youths from kibbutz
Afikim
Afikim () is an Israeli kibbutz affiliated with the Kibbutz Movement located in the Jordan Valley three kilometers from the Sea of Galilee. It is within the jurisdiction of the Emek HaYarden Regional Council. In it had a population of .
Ety ...
.
There is a small museum in the kibbutz about its history and the period between 1948 and 1967.
Museum information
Israel Places Its name was adapted from the Arabic name for the area, Tell al-Qasr, and also symbolises agriculture. Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion
David Ben-Gurion ( ; he, דָּוִד בֶּן-גּוּרִיּוֹן ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary national founder of the State of Israel and the first prime minister of Israel. Adopting the nam ...
refused to accept the name, insisting that it should be called Beit Katzir because it was not a real tell. However, after the kibbutz's secretariat noted that Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...
was not a real tell, and that Ramat Gan
Ramat Gan ( he, רָמַת גַּן or , ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located east of the municipality of Tel Aviv and part of the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. It is home to one of the world's major diamond exchanges, and many ...
(lit. ''Garden Heights'') was not hilly, they eventually won recognition of their preferred name.
The kibbutz stands 2 km east of the site, and on the traditional village lands, of the depopulated Palestinian village of Samakh.[Survey of Palestine, Samakh, 1943, :File:2021-23-Samakh-1943.jpg]
Due to the fact it was situated in the Israel–Syria demilitarised zone under the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Tel Katzir was claimed by Syria as its territory during negotiations for a peace agreement in the 1990s. The Israeli government rejected the claims, as it would have led to Syria having territory west of the 1923 border between Mandatory Palestine
Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...
and the French Mandate of Syria.
Notable people
* Eli Hurvitz (1932–2011), industrialist; Chairman of the Board and former CEO of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries
* Mark Regev
Mark Regev ( he, מארק רגב; born 1960) is a former Israeli diplomat and civil servant who is currently the chair of the Abba Eban Institute for Diplomacy and Foreign Relations at Reichman University. Between June 2020 and April 2021, he ser ...
(born 1960), formerly Mark Freiberg, is the official spokesperson for the Prime Minister of Israel. In 1982 he emigrated to Israel and lived and worked at kibbutz Tel Katzir
References
{{Quneitra Governorate
Kibbutzim
Kibbutz Movement
Populated places established in 1949
Populated places in Northern District (Israel)
1949 establishments in Israel