Ramat Yohanan ( he, רָמַת יוֹחָנָן, ''lit.'' Yohanan Heights) is a kibbutz 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 near

Kiryat Ata Kiryat Ata ( he, קִרְיַת אָתָא; also Qiryat Ata) is a city in the Haifa District of Israel. In it had a population of , 92% of whom were Jewish citizens. History The Early Bronze Age site at Qiryat Ata has been extensively excavate ...

and adjacent to the kibbutzim of Kfar HaMaccabi and Usha, it falls under the jurisdiction of

Zevulun Regional Council Zevulun Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית זבולון, ''Mo'atza Azorit Zvulun'') is a regional council in the Haifa District of Israel. Founded in 1950, it had a population of 10,900 in 2006. The council borders Mateh Asher Regio ...

. In it had a population of . In 2014, Forbes Israel ranked the Kibbutz as the 6th richest in Israel with an estimated value of 250 million Shekels.

History

The kibbutz was founded in 1931 on land bought by

Yehoshua Hankin Yehoshua Hankin ( he, יהושע חנקין, 1864 – 11 November 1945) was a Zionist activist who was responsible for most of the major land purchases of the Zionist Organization in Ottoman Palestine and Mandatory Palestine – in particular f ...

from the Lebanese in 1925. The founders were a mix of native Jews and

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, a ...

from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. It was named after the

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

n politician

Jan Smuts Field Marshal Jan Christian Smuts, (24 May 1870 11 September 1950) was a South African statesman, military leader and philosopher. In addition to holding various military and cabinet posts, he served as prime minister of the Union of South Af ...

, who was a prominent supporter of

Zionism 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 ...

and a personal friend of

Chaim Weizmann Chaim Azriel Weizmann ( he, חיים עזריאל ויצמן ', russian: Хаим Евзорович Вейцман, ''Khaim Evzorovich Veytsman''; 27 November 1874 – 9 November 1952) was a Russian-born biochemist, Zionist leader and Israe ...

. Upon graduating high school in 1940,

Yitzhak Rabin Yitzhak Rabin (; he, יִצְחָק רַבִּין, ; 1 March 1922 – 4 November 1995) was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–77, and from 1992 until h ...

joined the kibbutz's Noar Ha’oved (Working Youth) training program.Biography of Yitzhak Rabin
/ref> It was the location of the Battle of Ramat Yohanan during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine. The Druze regiment of the

Arab Liberation Army The Arab Liberation Army (ALA; ar, جيش الإنقاذ العربي ''Jaysh al-Inqadh al-Arabi''), also translated as Arab Salvation Army, was an army of volunteers from Arab countries led by Fawzi al-Qawuqji. It fought on the Arab side in the ...

were confronted by the Haganah soldiers. During the battle the defenders ran out of ammunition and fought with knives before they were re-supplied. Subsequently, the Druze ran out of ammunition and withdrew to their base in

Shefa-'Amr Shefa-Amr, also Shfar'am ( ar, شفاعمرو, Šafāʻamr, he, שְׁפַרְעָם, Šəfarʻam) is an Arab citizens of Israel, Arab city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. In it had a population of , with a Sunni I ...

with many casualties. As a result of their defeat, many Druze swapped sides in the conflict, and began co-operating with the Haganah.

Economy

The kibbutz grows produce including mainly avocado, lychee and citrus fruits. The kibbutz has large dairy farm of 600 milk cows, thousand acres of fields, and a large chicken breeding farm. The main economical power of the kibbutz comes from the company Palram, which mainly manufactures plastic sheets for the building industry . and Canopia which manufacturers garden and outdoor products. Beginning in the 1970s, Ramat Yohanan hosted an

ulpan An ulpan ( he, אולפן), plural ''ulpanim'', is an institute or school for the intensive study of Hebrew. Ulpan is a Hebrew word meaning "studio", "teaching", or "instruction". The ulpan is designed to teach adult immigrants to Israel the b ...

program. In recent years aimed primarily at American and Russian students, the program ceased operating in 2017 mostly due to Israeli government changes to immigration evaluations. File:רמת יוחנן - מגדל הצופים.-JNF045023.jpeg, Ramat Yohanan watchtower 1941 File:KIBBUTZ RAMAT YOHANAN. קיבוץ רמת יוחנן.D833-071.jpg, Ramat Yohanan 1944 File:Ramat Yohanan.jpg, Members of the Yiftach Brigade stationed at Ramat Yohanan in 1948 File:PikiWiki Israel 41274 Art of Israel.JPG, Kibbutz dining room with murals

References

{{Authority control American-Jewish culture in Israel Kibbutzim Kibbutz Movement Populated places established in 1932 Populated places in Haifa District 1932 establishments in Mandatory Palestine