Gevaram

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GEVARAM

GEVARAM (Heb. גְּבַרְעָם; "the People Overcomes"), kibbutz in the southern coastal plain of Israel, S. of Ashkelon, affiliated with Ha-Kibbutz ha-Me'uḥad, founded in 1942. The settlers, mainly pioneers from Slovakia, Austria, Holland, and Germany, previously maintained a transitory camp at *Kefar Sava as hired agricultural workers. They initially suffered from lack of water, but by deep drilling a rich groundwater table was discovered sufficient for local needs and to supply other settlements. The siege of the Egyptian army during the War of Independence was lifted in Operation Ten Plagues (October 1948). Gevaram's economy was based on intensive and largely irrigated farming, dairy cattle, and a metal factory. Its population was 240 in 1968 and 311 in 2002.

[Efraim Orni]