Hannaton

Hannaton is a kibbutz located in northern occupied Palestine, approximately 12 kilometers north of Nazareth and near the Arab town of Shefa-‘Amr. It was established in 1984 on the lands of the depopulated Palestinian village of Saffuriyya, in the Nazareth district. To the east of the kibbutz lies Tel Hannaton, an archaeological site associated with the biblical town of the same name. The tell is situated at the western edge of the Beit Netofa Valley and spans approximately 100 dunams (25 acres). The site has seen continuous occupation from the Bronze Age through the Ottoman Empire.

In the 1980s, a group of students from the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City, inspired by the first Reform kibbutz Yahel, set out to establish a kibbutz for followers of Conservative Judaism. The Garin Nitzan movement recruited members from across the United States and collaborated with the Israeli Masorti Movement. They enlisted Rabbi Ehud Bandel to organize high school students interested in joining a Nahal Garin group. On September 1, 1983, Garin Noam, composed of 30 members aged 18–19, relocated to Kfar HaHoresh for training. They were joined by Garin Nitzan, with 40 members aged 19–35, including numerous families with young children. In September 1984, the founding members moved to the new kibbutz, named after the biblical town Hannaton, which is mentioned in the Book of Joshua. Later, the founders were joined by immigrants from South Africa, South America, the Netherlands, and Canada. In 1997, the United Kibbutz Movement began sending groups from HaNoar HaOved VeHaLomed to the kibbutz; however, they were not granted full membership due to ideological differences. In 2006, following financial difficulties, attorney Sagi Merom was appointed as trustee to oversee the dissolution of the kibbutz. Under his management, the annual deficit of 80,000 shekels (approximately USD $22,000 at the time) was eliminated, and the kibbutz recovered economically. As of 2022, the population of Hannaton was 1,008 settlers.   Timorim is a moshav located in central occupied Palestine, situated on the Palestinian coastal plain about one kilometer south of the Malakhi junction, near the settlement of Kiryat Malakhi. It was established in 1948 by a group of young people from South Africa, Romania, and Egypt, affiliated with the youth movement HaNoar HaTzioni, initially as a kibbutz. It was founded on land belonging to the village of Ma‘lul. In 1953, it was reorganized as a cooperative moshav (moshav shitufi), one of the earliest settlements of its kind in the country. In 1954, the settlement moved to its current location due to a shortage of land at the original site. As of 2022, the population of Timorim was 756 settlers.   Hasolelim is a kibbutz in northern occupied Palestine. The nearby Palestinian town of Saffuriya was almost entirely emptied of its approximately 4,000 residents in July 1948. By early January 1949, about 500 residents had returned, but “the neighboring settlements coveted the lands of Saffuriya.” The “Northern Front” ordered its evacuation, which was carried out on January 7, 1949. From February of the same year onward, the lands of Saffuriya were distributed to the nearby Zionist settlements. Kibbutz Hasolelim was established in July 1949. Its name symbolizes the founders’ desire to pave the way for new settlements in the land of occupied Palestine. Founded by members of Maccabi Hatzair, 3,795 dunams of Saffuriya’s land were confiscated and allocated to Hasolelim at the end of 1949. Hasolelim is located west of the site of Saffuriya. As of 2022, its population was 983 settlers.