Tze'elim ( he, צֶאֱלִים) 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 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
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 southe ...
desert, it falls under the jurisdiction of
Eshkol Regional Council
Eshkol Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית אשכול, ''Mo'atza Ezorit Eshkol'') is a regional council in the north-western Negev, in Israel's Southern District. The regional council's territory lies midway between Ashkelon and Beershe ...
. In it had a population of . A military training base of the ground forces of the
IDF (often named "Tze'elim Base") is located nearby.
History

The kibbutz was founded in January 1947 by
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 mi ...
from Jewish youth movements in
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, wh ...
and
North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in t ...
, and was named for the abundant
acacia
''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus n ...
trees in the area, which were mistakenly identified as the
biblical
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
''Tze'elim'' trees. During the
1948 Arab–Israeli War the kibbutz was used as a
military
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distin ...
base. Many of the
Selvino children were settled in the kibbutz.
Economy
Today the kibbutz markets itself as a tourist destination, with a natural hot springs
spa
A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneothe ...
and accommodation. Other economic activities are agriculture and farming.
A 120 MW
solar power plant
A photovoltaic power station, also known as a solar park, solar farm, or solar power plant, is a large-scale grid-connected photovoltaic power system (PV system) designed for the supply of merchant power. They are different from most building ...
, Israel's largest to date, opened in the kibbutz in 2020.
The production plant for
cleantech materials made out of unsorted garbage of the Israeli company
UBQ Materials is located at the kibbutz.
Transport
Tze'elim is linked to the regional council by bus route 14, to
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 ...
by bus route 376, to
Ofakim
Ofakim ( he, אֳפָקִים ''ʾŎfāqīm'', or אוֹפָקִים ''ʾŌfāqīm'', ''lit.'' "horizons") is a city in the Southern District of Israel, 20 kilometers (12.4 mi) west of Beersheba. It achieved municipal status in 1955. I ...
by bus route 30 and to
Beersheba
Beersheba or Beer Sheva, officially Be'er-Sheva ( he, בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע, ''Bəʾēr Ševaʿ'', ; ar, بئر السبع, Biʾr as-Sabʿ, Well of the Oath or Well of the Seven), is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. ...
by bus route 130. All 4 bus routes are operated by
Dan BaDarom
Dan BaDarom ( he, דן בדרום) is an Israeli bus company, which provides bus routes in the Northern Negev. The company is a subsidiary of Dan Bus Company.
In 2015, Dan Bus Company established the subsidiary Dan BaDarom to compete on tende ...
. Tze'elim is situated off
highway
A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...
222, in the north-western
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 southe ...
.
Urban Warfare Training Center
In 2005, the Israeli Defense Forces, with assistance from the United States, built the Urban Warfare Training Center at the Tze'elim Army Base, at a cost of $45 million. Nicknamed "Baladia" (Arabic for "city"), it is a 7.4 square mile training center used to instruct soldiers in urban warfare techniques, and consists of an imitation Middle Eastern style city with multiple multistory buildings. It has been used to train various military organizations, including the US Army and UN peacekeepers. The project was developed in response to the need for greater urban warfare training amongst the IDF, following the conflict during the
Second Intifada
The Second Intifada ( ar, الانتفاضة الثانية, ; he, האינתיפאדה השנייה, ), also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada ( ar, انتفاضة الأقصى, label=none, '), was a major Palestinians, Palestinian uprising a ...
.
[2014-07-09]
War Games: Israeli Urban Warfare
Vice News
References
External links and references
Official websiteUrban Warfare Training Center – Simulating the Modern Battle-Field IDF 2011
globalsecurity.org 2008
VideoVice.com
Tze'elimNegev Information Centre
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{{Eshkol Regional Council
Kibbutzim
Kibbutz Movement
Populated places established in 1947
1947 establishments in Mandatory Palestine
Populated places in Southern District (Israel)
North African-Jewish culture in Israel