Solel Boneh (, lit. ''Paving and Building'') is the oldest, and one of the largest,

construction Construction are processes involved in delivering buildings, infrastructure, industrial facilities, and associated activities through to the end of their life. It typically starts with planning, financing, and design that continues until the a ...

and

civil engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

companies in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

History

During British rule (1921–1948)

Solel Boneh was founded in 1921 in British-ruled Palestine, during the first conference of the Jewish

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

, the General Histadrut, under the name of Batz (), an acronym of ''Binyan veAvodot Tziburiot'' (, lit. ''Construction and Public Works''). Its first project was to pave a road from

Tiberias Tiberias ( ; , ; ) is a city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's Four Holy Cities, along with Jerusalem, Heb ...

to Samakh, which is now part of Highway 90. The company was founded as a

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomy, autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned a ...

organisation in the spirit of

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

workers' groups. In 1923 it was declared bankrupt partly due to its supplementing wages to Jewish workers. It was resurrected by the Histadrut and the World Zionist Organization as a company named "Solel Boneh", based on the organisation but managed as a business corporation. Solel Boneh had an integral role in major building activities in Mandate Palestine. Among other projects, the company built Tegart's wall in 1938. It also built the Tegart Forts and prefabricated the buildings for the Tower and stockade campaign. During the Mandate era it built bridges, airfields, bases for the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

and army projects in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

and

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

. It had branches in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

and

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

. In 1926, it employed 3,000 workers in various public works projects, included 139 women who worked in construction.Labor Enterprises in Israel: The Institutional Economy, vol. 2, Abraham Daniel
/ref> It had a policy of only employing Jews which was relaxed in 1954.

Israel, trade union ownership (1948–1996)

After statehood was achieved in 1948, Solel Boneh continued to play a major role in Israeli construction projects. Solel Boneh helped strengthen the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

during the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, also known as the First Arab–Israeli War, followed the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine, civil war in Mandatory Palestine as the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. The civil war becam ...

, and it built strongholds and systems to supply water, in practice becoming the basis of the first

logistics Logistics is the part of supply chain management that deals with the efficient forward and reverse flow of goods, services, and related information from the point of origin to the Consumption (economics), point of consumption according to the ...

unit in the IDF. In 1961,

shares In financial markets, a share (sometimes referred to as stock or equity) is a unit of equity ownership in the capital stock of a corporation. It can refer to units of mutual funds, limited partnerships, and real estate investment trusts. Sha ...

of Solel Boneh were first traded on the

Tel Aviv Stock Exchange The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE; ), colloquially known as The Bursa, is the only public stock exchange in Israel and a public company itself, listed on its own exchange since August 1, 2019. It is regulated by the ''Securities Law (1968)'' a ...

. Israeli firms, such as Solel Boneh, were often involved in building projects in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

during the 1960s and 1970s. One reason

Operation Entebbe The Entebbe raid, also known as the Operation Entebbe and officially codenamed Operation Thunderbolt (also retroactively codenamed Operation Yonatan), was a 1976 Israeli counter-terrorist mission in Uganda. It was launched in response to th ...

in 1976 was so well-planned was that the building in which the hostages were being held had been built by Solel Boneh, which still had the blueprints, and supplied them to the Israeli government. From 1960–1969, Solel Boneh carried out the construction of the

Basilica of the Annunciation The Church of the Annunciation (, , ), sometimes also referred to as the Basilica of the Annunciation, is a Catholic Church, Catholic church in Nazareth, in northern Israel. It is one of two claimants to the site of the Annunciation – in whic ...

Nazareth Nazareth is the largest Cities in Israel, city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. In its population was . Known as "the Arab capital of Israel", Nazareth serves as a cultural, political, religious, economic and ...

. In 1984, a subsidiary, Solel Boneh Building and Infrastructure, was founded under full control of the parent company. In 1989, control of Solel Boneh was passed on to the Housing & Construction Holding Company Limited (Shikun U'Binui).

Privatisation (1996)

In 1996, control of that

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

, including Solel Boneh, was obtained by Ted Arison and after his death in 1999 later it was passed on to his daughter, Shari Arison.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Construction and civil engineering companies of Israel Histadrut Companies listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange 1921 establishments in Mandatory Palestine Construction and civil engineering companies established in 1921 Words and phrases in Modern Hebrew