Hulda
חֻלְדָּה‎
Hulda is located in Central Israel
Hulda
Hulda
Hulda is located in Israel
Hulda
Hulda
Coordinates: 31°49′56″N 34°53′0″E / 31.83222°N 34.88333°E / 31.83222; 34.88333
CountryIsrael
DistrictCentral
CouncilGezer
AffiliationKibbutz Movement
Founded1930
Founded byGordonia members
Population
 (2021)[1]
1,169
Websitewww.hulda.co.il

Hulda (Hebrew: חֻלְדָּה) is a kibbutz in central Israel. Located in the Shephelah near the Hulda Forest and the Burma Road, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gezer Regional Council. In 2021 it had a population of 1,169.[1]

Etymology

The kibbutz takes its name from the Palestinian village of Khulda, which existed nearby until the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.[2]

History

Hulda memorial

Ottoman rule

In 1905, the Anglo Palestine Bank purchased 2,000 dunams (2.0 km2) of land from the Saidun tribe for a Jewish settlement near the Jaffa–Jerusalem railway. Ownership of the land was transferred to the Jewish National Fund which turned it over to the Palestine Office of the Zionist Organization (ZO). In 1909, the Hulda farm was established and a building (today Herzl House) was constructed to house the manager of the farm and was later used by the kibbutz members.[3]

British Mandate

Groups of pioneers who trained at the Hulda farm helped establish Ein Harod (1921), Kfar Yehezkel (1921), Ginegar (1922) and other kibbutzim.[3] According to a census conducted in 1922 by the British Mandate authorities, Hulda had a population of 40 Jews.[4] During the 1929 Palestine riots, the farm was attacked and destroyed. British forces ordered the evacuation of the settlers, but barred them from taking the body of Ephraim Chizik, the Haganah commander who was killed in battle.[5] In 1931, the Gordonia pioneer group resettled Hulda.[3] The 1931 census mentions 49 inhabitants, with one residential house.[6] The farm suffered several more attacks during the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine.[3]

Hulda 1942 1:20,000
Hulda 1945 1:250,000

1948 Arab–Israeli War

During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War it served as the headquarters of the Palmach's Yiftach Brigade and a base for convoys bringing supplies to Jerusalem.[2][7] After the first truce the Harel Brigade 4th Battalion, Company B, also had its headquarters at Hulda. The kibbutz became a staging ground for Jewish convoys trying to break the Arab siege on Jerusalem. 230 convoys were set out to transport supplies to the besieged city, the largest of which were organized near Kibbutz Hulda.[8]

Since 1980

In the early 1980s, membership was about 220, but financial difficulties led to the exodus of many families, leaving only half that number. The kibbutz has since been privatized.[9]

Economy

The Hulda vineyard, covering over 1,200 dunams, is the largest single vineyard in Israel.[10] Hulda Transformers, established in 1975, produces and distributes transformers and power supplies for commercial, military and medical equipment.[11] Yarok al Hamayim is a banquet facility at Kibbutz Hulda.[12]

Notable people

Herzl House, Kibbutz Hulda

References

  1. 1 2 "Regional Statistics". Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  2. 1 2 Mapa's concise gazetteer of Israel (in Hebrew). Yuval Elʻazari (ed.). Tel-Aviv: Mapa Publishing. 2005. p. 174. ISBN 965-7184-34-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  3. 1 2 3 4 Herzl never lived here
  4. ↑ "Palestine Census ( 1922)".
  5. ↑ The First Forest
  6. ↑ Mills, 1932, p. 20
  7. ↑ Shabtai Teveth (1996) Ben Gurion's Spy Columbia University Press ISBN 0-231-10464-2 pp 19-20
  8. ↑ http://www.gemsinisrael.com/e_article000003340.htm Archived 2013-09-21 at the Wayback Machine The Convoy Skeletons]
  9. ↑ With interest waning, kibbutzim adopt new approach to survive
  10. ↑ About Barkan Winery
  11. ↑ Hulda Transformers
  12. ↑ President to President, Jerusalem Post
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