The above picture is a lemon orchard from Kibbutz Sdot Yam.
Youth Aliya members from Germany dancing the hora at Kibbutz Ein Harod, 1936 (Kluger Zoltan/GPO)
Before Israel became an official state, the kibbutz was already there carving out the boundaries, economy and social structure for the fledgling state to be built on. The Kibbutzniks, as the pioneers that lived and worked together were called, are often hailed as the strength that Israel was built on. The original focus of these communities that operated under a socialist platform, was agriculture. Somehow they needed to feed the immigrants and refugees that were starting to find their way to their new home in the horrific wake of the Holocaust and WWII. Sharing everything equally and splitting the responsibilities of running the kibbutz was the successful survival method that sustained the kibbutzim, plural for kibbutz, for many years. Industry was added when the agriculture alone was not sustaining the growing population and the need for financial stability grew. The 1980’s saw a harsh time economically for Israel and although many kibbutzim weathered it successfully due to their solid industrial sector, many did not.
SouthUp’s workspace at Kibbutz Nir Am.
Jumping forward almost 70 years and things are different now. Israel’s kibbutzim are shifting gears and adding the Startup Nation “tractor” to their tool shed, so to speak. “We are now strong enough to start becoming enterprising again,” Ofir Libstein, the CEO of the Kibbutz Industry Association, said in a phone interview. “In the last few years we have managed to develop a third pillar, alongside agriculture and industry: technology. We want to encourage kibbutzim to set up their own startup ventures, introduce technologies into their manufacturing processes and invest in startups. After all, we were Israel’s first startups.” (Times of Israel, 31/12/17.)
Founded in 2015, SouthUp is a new non-profit serving as a facilitator to incubate new startups on the kibbutz. It operates in the Negev region and seeks to promote “employment, education, and community growth” in kibbutzim near the border with Gaza. Revivim, a kibbutz in the Negev, was the first to plunge head first with SouthUp CEO Elad Yeori’s help. Forming an incubator for startups, complete with mentors, they provide housing, workspace, food and laundry service to those they accept to the Hatchery, or Madgera in Hebrew. An apt name for the new initiative born in a traditionally agricultural environment. The plan runs for 3 or 6 months depending on the scope of the project and of the 9 teams that were invited, 4 graduated successfully and have “flown the coop.” The unsuccessful teams vacate their temporary home and hopefully try again. “The statement we’re making isn’t that high-tech is better than low-tech industry which is better than farming,” says Udi Orenstein, director-general of the Kibbutz Industries Association and a member of Revivim. “It’s that Israel is a technology nation and it isn’t reasonable for kibbutzim not to have high-tech.” (Haaretz, Ruth Schuster 16/3/16)
Volunteers in the natural construction on Kibbutz Lotan.
Another field of interest has been in sustainable living, and specifically in reducing greenhouse emissions. There are several kibbutzim that are successfully showcasing this way of life. One is Kibbutz Lotan, in the Negev. According to Mark Naveh from the Center for Creative Ecology in Lotan, it was initially founded “to take responsibility for our own actions as much as we could.” (NoCamels, 12/2017) This kibbutz also stands out among the ecological kibbutzim for its emphasis on environmental education. The Center for Creative Ecology is one of its initiatives and runs various programs based on sustainability values for people of all ages. Some of the many programs are Eco-Kef (Eco Fun) lab, a solar tea house, and organic gardens. They also promote a teaching tool called the Green Apprenticeship, a four-week program which entails a Sustainable Development and Permaculture Design Certification that involves construction and organic farming. Other programs the kibbutz offers follows this continuity of ecological sustainability.
A Plasan Sand Cat vehicle
Some Kibbutzim were ahead of the curve and have already been established as tops in their respective product lines. Kibbutz Sasa, in the north of Israel for example, established Plasan Sasa in 1985, an armored plating producer for military vehicles. While the product itself is not new, the higher levels of production and the refinements that Plasan Sasa has made in the field have put it at the top of the market. The company is still completely owned by the kibbutz, maintaining plants in the US and France, and recently won an award for it’s superb contributions and achievement in the support of Tactical Wheeled Vehicles. Enabling critical technologies that contribute to this overall goal is a criteria that the NDIA’s Tactical Wheeled Division specifies. Plasan Sasa with its indomitable R&D division are constantly at the front of the line.
Shamir As Worn Technology
Likewise Kibbutz Shamir, in the Galilee of north Israel, has its roots in agriculture but in 1972 they founded Shamir Optical which is now one of the world’s only manufacturers of multifocal lenses for eyeglasses, thanks to its ground-breaking technology. The Shamir Free Frame Technology is an astonishing design tool enabling the lens to automatically adapt to the frame size and shape. Whereas the “As-Worn Technology” allows the patient to benefit from the doctor’s original prescription by taking into account the perception accuracy of the doctor and adjusting that to the frames that the patient chooses.
Photo courtesy of Caesarstone
For Kibbutz Sdot Yam it was quartz that made all the difference. Their answer to the 1980’s economic crisis was to open Caesarstone in 1987. A company that designs, engineers and manufactures stone surfaces used in kitchens, bathrooms, floors, walls and even furniture. They pioneered the quartz surface, consisting of 93 percent quartz. Once their highly functional but also gorgeous designs hit it big with designers around the world, their future was set. Now worth over $1 billion, it’s almost hard to believe that it started in a community based on fishery.
Kibbutzim are demonstrating ably their adaptability and value. Whereas the high-tech startups of Tel Aviv must rely mostly on their own efforts to grow, the kibbutzim, associations, and non-profits have the support and the pioneering spirit to cultivate new technologies that will continue Israel’s legacy of changing the world for the better. It may very well be that the kibbutz will be the future of Israel once again.
