Zikim ( he, זִיקִים) is a kibbutz 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 in the northern

Negev The Negev or Negeb (; he, הַנֶּגֶב, hanNegév; ar, ٱلنَّقَب, an-Naqab) is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its sout ...

desert, it falls under the jurisdiction of

Hof Ashkelon Regional Council Hof Ashkelon Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית חוף אשקלון, ''Mo'atza Azorit Hof Ashkelon'', ''lit.'' Ashkelon Coast Regional Council) is a regional council in the Southern District of Israel. The council is bordered to the n ...

. In it had a population of .

History

The kibbutz was established in 1949 on land that had belonged to the depopulated

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

village of

Hiribya Hirbiya ( ar, هربيا) was a Palestinian Arab village in the Gaza Subdistrict, located northeast of Gaza along the southern coastal plain of Palestine. Situated where the Battle of La Forbie took place in 1244, it was depopulated during th ...

, by a group of young Romanian Jews who belonged to Hashomer Hatzair before their arrival in

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 ...

in 1947. At that time, Jewish settlement in the Negev was very sparse, and each new location was considered to be a "point of light" (''zik'') in the wilderness. Michael Har-Segor, later an Israeli historian, came up with the name while imprisoned in Romania for his activity in Hashomer Hatzair. He says he translated a quote from

Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...

into Hebrew: "From sparks shall come a flame." Zikim attracted members of Hashomer Hatzair from around the world, most recently from

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

. British actor Bob Hoskins, although not Jewish, worked as a volunteer in Zikim in 1967. In 2006 a

Qassam rocket The Qassam rocket ( ar, صاروخ القسام ''Ṣārūkh al-Qassām''; also ''Kassam'') is a simple, steel artillery rocket developed and deployed by the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military arm of Hamas. These rockets cannot be fired ...

fired from northern Gaza hit a mattress factory in Zikim. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the rocket attack. In July 2014, five armed Palestinians attempted to cross into Israel via the beach at Kibbutz Zikim. They were killed by IDF gunfire.

Economy

The main crops are mango and

avocado The avocado (''Persea americana'') is a medium-sized, evergreen tree in the laurel family ( Lauraceae). It is native to the Americas and was first domesticated by Mesoamerican tribes more than 5,000 years ago. Then as now it was prized for ...

. Zikim also operates one of Israel's largest dairy farms. The main industrial product is

polyurethane Polyurethane (; often abbreviated PUR and PU) refers to a class of polymers composed of organic units joined by carbamate (urethane) links. In contrast to other common polymers such as polyethylene and polystyrene, polyurethane is produced from ...

, produced by the kibbutz factory, Polyrit.

Notable people

* Bob Hoskins * Peretz Kidron *

Hagai Zamir Hagai Zamir ( he, חגי זמיר, born 1951) is an Israeli paralympic volleyball champion. Biography Hagai Zamir was born on Kibbutz Zikim. He served with the IDF's Paratroopers Brigade. On January 2, 1970, during the War of Attrition, Zamir w ...

References

External links

Official website
{{Hof Ashkelon Regional Council Kibbutzim Kibbutz Movement Gaza envelope Populated places in Southern District (Israel) Romanian-Jewish culture in Israel Populated places established in 1949 1949 establishments in Israel