Lahavot Ha-Bashan

views updated

LAHAVOT HA-BASHAN

LAHAVOT HA-BASHAN (Heb. לַהֲבוֹת הַבָּשָׁן, "Flames of the Bashan"), kibbutz in northern Israel, on the eastern rim of the *Ḥuleh Valley, affiliated with Ha-Kibbutz Ha-Arẓi Ha-Shomer ha-Ẓa'ir. It was founded in 1945 by a group of *Youth Aliyah graduates from Germany and Israeli-born youth, as one of the settlements in the defense chain at the foot of the *Golan Heights. During Israel's *War of Independence (1948) the kibbutz was exposed to a heavy attack from Syrian forces. Farming at Lahavot ha-Bashan was based on field and fodder crops, fruit orchards, dairy cattle, and carp ponds. The kibbutz had a factory specializing in spraying and fire-extinguishing apparatus. In 2002 its population was 423.

[Efraim Orni]