Kefar Ha-Nasi

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KEFAR HA-NASI

KEFAR HA-NASI (Heb. כְּפַר הַנָּשִׂיא), kibbutz in Upper Galilee, Israel, S. of the Ḥuleh Valley, affiliated to Iḥud ha-Kevuẓot ve-ha-Kibbutzim. It was founded on July 2, 1948, during the Israeli War of Independence, just when the Syrians established their bridgehead at nearby *Mishmar ha-Yarden in an attempt to cut off the whole of Upper Galilee. When fighting was renewed a week later to contain and reduce the bridge-head, the kibbutz found itself in the middle of battle. The settlers were graduates of the *Iḥud Habonim youth movement of England, Australia, and other English-speaking countries. Its economy was based on intensive farming (orchards, citrus groves, field crops, a plant nursery, and poultry), a factory producing industrial valves, a small hydroelectric plant, and guest rooms. The communal system was gradually phased out, with members receiving salaries or working outside the kibbutz and covering their own expenses. In 2002 the population of Kefar ha-Nasi was 489. Its name (President's Village) commemorates Chaim *Weizmann.

website:

www.villageinn.co.il.

[Efraim Orni /

Shaked Gilboa (2nd ed.)]