Manara () is a

kibbutz A kibbutz ( / , ; : kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania Alef, Degania. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economi ...

in northern

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 ...

. Located on the of the Naftali Mountains,

Upper Galilee The Upper Galilee (, ''HaGalil Ha'Elyon''; , ''Al Jaleel Al A'alaa'') is a geographical region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Part of the larger Galilee region, it is characterized by its higher elevations and mountainous terra ...

, adjacent to the Lebanese border and overlooking the Hula Valley, it falls under the jurisdiction of

Upper Galilee Regional Council The Upper Galilee Regional Council (, Romanization of Hebrew, translit. ''Mo'atza Azorit HaGalil HaElyon'') is a regional council (Israel), regional council in Israel's Upper Galilee region, bordered by the Mevo'ot HaHermon Regional Council and the ...

. In it had a population of .

History

The village was formerly inhabited by Arabs, when it was known as Kh el Menarah. In 1881, the PEF's '' Survey of Western Palestine'' (SWP) described it as "ruins of a modern Arab village, several rock-cut

cistern A cistern (; , ; ) is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. To prevent leakage, the interior of the cistern is often lined with hydraulic plaster. Cisterns are disti ...

s, and one wine-press" In the 1940s, 2538 dunams of land were purchased by the

Jewish National Fund The Jewish National Fund (JNF; , ''Keren Kayemet LeYisrael''; previously , ''Ha Fund HaLeumi'') is a non-profit organizationProfessor Alon Tal, The Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, The Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben Gurion ...

from Asa'ad Bey Khuri of

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 ...

.Avneri, 1984, p
203
/ref> The kibbutz was established in 1943 by members of the HaNoar HaOved VeHaLomed youth group and young immigrants from

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. Leon Uris used an incident from the history of the kibbutz in his novel, '' Exodus''. The scene of the night hike with the children from Gan Dafna as the kibbutz faced attack was based on the war-time transport of the children of kibbutz Manara from the mountaintop to what was presumed to be a safer place on the valley floor. Former Prime Minister

Yitzhak Rabin Yitzhak Rabin (; , ; 1 March 1922 – 4 November 1995) was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the prime minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–1977, and from 1992 until Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, his ass ...

's sister Rachel Ya'akov was a founding member. In June 1948 the kibbutz requested land from the newly depopulated

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

village of Qadas, as it was "suitable for winter crops." As Manara lies less than 100 metres from the Lebanese border, problems have arisen during fighting between the two countries. The Manara bypass project was completed in 2005 to provide safe access to the kibbutz. Manara is boasted to be 888 metres above sea level and is a rare style for a kibbutz, with apartments providing the accommodation, due to the limited space.

Hezbollah attacks during Israel–Hamas war

During the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

, Hezbollah targeted northern Israeli border communities, forcing evacuations. On October 19, at least two anti-tank missiles were fired from Lebanese territory, hitting Manara without causing any casualties. File:מנרה (רמים) - הקמת הבניינים-JNF036350.jpeg, Manara under construction, 1944 File:מנרה - בתי העץ הצריפים הזמניים.-JNF028651.jpeg, Manara barracks, 1944 File:מנרה - הבתים הקבועים החדשים.-JNF028634.jpeg, Manara, 1944 File:מנרה - מראה הרמה והבתים הזמניים.-JNF028649.jpeg, Manara, 1944 File:מנרה (רמים) - מראה כללי-JNF036351.jpeg, Manara, 1947 File:Manara ii.jpg,

Yiftach Brigade The 11th Brigade (also known as the Yiftach Brigade) is a reserves unit in the Israel Defense Forces, composed mainly of fighters that completed their compulsory service in the Egoz Unit, Unit 621 – 'Egoz'. History In the 1948 Arab–Israeli ...

bringing supplies to kibbutz Manara, 1948 File:Manara iii.jpg, Bulgarian Company of

with a convoy to Manara, 1948

Economy

Manara's main industries are agriculture (primarily cotton fields,

apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

s and

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

s),

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

to the scenic cliffs via its cable cars descending from the Upper Manara Cliff down to

Kiryat Shmona Kiryat Shmona () is a city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel on the western slopes of the Hula Valley near the Lebanon, Lebanese border. In it had a population of . Located near the Blue Line (withdrawal line), Israel ...

in the valley below, and a technical

glass Glass is an amorphous (non-crystalline solid, non-crystalline) solid. Because it is often transparency and translucency, transparent and chemically inert, glass has found widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in window pane ...

manufacturing plant.

Notable people

* Rachel Rabin-Yaakov, sister of

Sister of Yitzhak Rabin, Rachel Rabin, to be awarded Rothberg Prize

Hebrew University The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. It is the second-ol ...

(7 June 2009). Accessed 21 June 2022.

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

*
Manara cable car website
*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 2:
IAAWikimedia commons
{{Authority control Kibbutzim Kibbutz Movement Populated places established in 1943 Populated places in Northern District (Israel) 1943 establishments in Mandatory Palestine German-Jewish culture in Israel Polish-Jewish culture in Israel