Lahav
Encyclopedia
For the Israeli security organization, see Lahav 433
Lahav 433
Lahav 433 is a new Israeli crime-fighting umbrella organization within the Israel Police. Known as the "Israeli FBI", the unit is the merger of five law enforcement offices into one. It is tasked with investigating national crimes and corruption....

.

Lahav is a kibbutz
Kibbutz
A kibbutz is a collective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economic branches, including industrial plants and high-tech enterprises. Kibbutzim began as utopian communities, a combination of socialism and Zionism...

 in southern Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

. Located around 20 km north of Beersheba
Beersheba
Beersheba is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the seventh-largest city in Israel with a population of 194,300....

 and covering 33,000 dunam
Dunam
A dunam or dönüm, dunum, donum, dynym, dulum was a non-SI unit of land area used in the Ottoman Empire and representing the amount of land that can be plowed in a day; its value varied from 900–2500 m²...

s, it falls under the jurisdiction of Bnei Shimon Regional Council
Bnei Shimon Regional Council
The Bnei Shimon Regional Council , is a regional council in the northern Negev in the south of Israel. Most of its territory lies north of Beersheba and the rest bounds Beersheba on the west and east sides as well. The eastern border of this territory straddles the Green Line.There are 13...

. In 2006, it had a population of 384.

The kibbutz was established in 1952 and was initially named Tziklag after the Biblical
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...

 city of Ziklag
Ziklag
Ziklag is the Biblical name of a town that was located in the Negev region in the south of what was the Kingdom of Judah.-Identification:The exact location of Ziklag has not been identified with any certainty....

, which was thought to have been located nearby. Originally the founders had been unsure whether to settle in the Negev
Negev
The Negev is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The Arabs, including the native Bedouin population of the region, refer to the desert as al-Naqab. The origin of the word Neghebh is from the Hebrew root denoting 'dry'...

 or Galilee
Galilee
Galilee , is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country. Traditionally divided into Upper Galilee , Lower Galilee , and Western Galilee , extending from Dan to the north, at the base of Mount Hermon, along Mount Lebanon to the...

, but accepted a government decision that settling on Tel Halifa in the Negev was more important. After a few years, the kibbutz was renamed Lahav in honour of the Nahal
Nahal
Nahal is an Israel Defense Forces infantry brigade. Historically, it refers to a program that combines military service and establishment of new agricultural settlements, often in outlying areas...

 group which established it.

Economy

Economically, Lahav relies on agriculture (both crops and livestock) and has two industrial ventures: a plant for plastic containers (Dolav) owned and operated jointly with the neighboring kibbutz, Dvir
Dvir
Dvir , also known as Dvira , is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located near Rahat and Beersheba, it falls under the jurisdiction of Bnei Shimon Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 406....

, and a meat processing plant.

In 1963, Lahav established the Institute for Animal Research with guidance from leading scientists from the Hebrew University's Faculty of Agriculture, which is the only research facility in Israel specializing in raising pigs. According to a 1963 law, pigs can be legally raised in kibbutzim (or more generally on land leased from the state) only for research purposes, but meat from surplus animals may be sold. While all other kibbutzim abandoned pig farming to comply with the 1963 law, Lahav transferred its pig farm to its new organization, the Institute for Animal Research, which continues to supply Lahav's meat processing factory with surplus pigs. Lahav's pork and other meat products are nationally marketed in non-kosher food stores all over Israel, and the Lahav brand is a major competitor to non-kosher meat products of Mizra
Mizra
Mizra is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located between Afula and Nazareth, it falls under the jurisdiction of Jezreel Valley Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 689.-History:...

. However, the production of pig meat has raised criticism, as Israel is a Jewish
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...

state.

External links

  • Lahav Negev Information Centre
  • Lahav on Bnei Shimon Regional Council site
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