Communal settlement (Israel)
Encyclopedia
A community settlement is a type of town
in Israel
. While in an ordinary town anyone may buy property, in a community settlement the town's residents, who are organized in a cooperative
, can veto a sale of a house or a business to an undesirable buyer.
By this selection process, residents of a community settlement may have a particular shared ideology, religious perspective, or desired lifestyle which they wish to perpetuate by accepting only like-minded individuals. For example, a family-oriented community settlement that wishes to avoid becoming a retirement community
may choose to accept only young married couples as new residents.
in which all residents must be members. To enforce the restrictions on reselling property, property on a community settlement is formally not sold, but rather lease
d. The land of the entire settlement is owned by one entity (usually the Jewish National Fund
through the Israel Land Administration
), which leases out individual plots only to members of the cooperative. In that sense, a community settlement is much like a town-sized housing cooperative
.
The residents cooperative may also own and operate property and businesses, and this is often used for keeping certain public facilities, such as preschool
, synagogue
s, grocery store
s, sport facilities, youth clubs, swimming pool
s, etc., in the hands of the entire community. However, unlike a kibbutz
or a moshav
, the economic cooperation between residents is very loose - most residents work outside the settlement, and residents only pay minimal property tax
es to the cooperative to help maintain the town and its public facilities.
Note that despite a popular misconception, the mere existence of community-owned facilities is not what differentiates community settlements from ordinary towns, as most ordinary towns also have the same types of facilities - preschool, synagogues, sport centers and sometimes even swimming pools - owned and operated by the town. Likewise, the mere existence of a democratic body of residents which makes decisions and organizes events for the whole community is not a defining feature of community settlements: Ordinary towns also have their own local governments which are democratically elected by their residents.
Most community settlements are small, with no more than several hundred residents, and are therefore too small to form their own separate formal municipalities. Instead, the residents' cooperative is recognized by the state of Israel as a local committee. Several such local committees can, for example, form together a regional council
, which is one of the three types of local government
in Israel. In practice, the regional council often has more impact on the resident's life than the cooperative of their own settlement: It is the regional council which will normally run schools, build roads, collect property taxes, and even run its own screening process.
, in Gush Dan
which was established in 1953. Many Israeli settlement
s on throughout the West Bank
are set up as community settlements; there are also many such communities in the Galilee
and elsewhere in rural northern Israel.
Most community settlements in Israel are relatively small, with a few hundred or thousand residents. Some communities are even smaller, with fewer than 30 residents. Some communities cater to specific populations, such as the Haredi town of Betar Illit
.
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel
has charged that this screening process is designed to deny membership to Arab
s, and that sometimes Jews of specific ethnic or socio-economic groups are also discriminated against. Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights issued a press release:
However, these communities are predominantly self-selective. Many communities are open and welcoming to all who wish to join their community.
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. While in an ordinary town anyone may buy property, in a community settlement the town's residents, who are organized in a cooperative
Cooperative
A cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit...
, can veto a sale of a house or a business to an undesirable buyer.
By this selection process, residents of a community settlement may have a particular shared ideology, religious perspective, or desired lifestyle which they wish to perpetuate by accepting only like-minded individuals. For example, a family-oriented community settlement that wishes to avoid becoming a retirement community
Naturally occurring retirement community
A Naturally occurring retirement community—or a NORC —is a community that was not originally designed for seniors, but that has a large proportion of residents who are older adults...
may choose to accept only young married couples as new residents.
Legal structure
Legally, a community settlement operates as a cooperativeCooperative
A cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit...
in which all residents must be members. To enforce the restrictions on reselling property, property on a community settlement is formally not sold, but rather lease
Lease
A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the lessee to pay the lessor for use of an asset. A rental agreement is a lease in which the asset is tangible property...
d. The land of the entire settlement is owned by one entity (usually the Jewish National Fund
Jewish National Fund
The Jewish National Fund was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman Palestine for Jewish settlement. The JNF is a quasi-governmental, non-profit organisation...
through the Israel Land Administration
Israel Land Administration
The Israel Land Administration is part of the government of Israel and is responsible for managing the 93% of the land in Israel which is in the public domain. These lands are either property of the state, belong to the Jewish National Fund which controls 13% of the land, or belong to the Israel...
), which leases out individual plots only to members of the cooperative. In that sense, a community settlement is much like a town-sized housing cooperative
Housing cooperative
A housing cooperative is a legal entity—usually a corporation—that owns real estate, consisting of one or more residential buildings. Each shareholder in the legal entity is granted the right to occupy one housing unit, sometimes subject to an occupancy agreement, which is similar to a lease. ...
.
The residents cooperative may also own and operate property and businesses, and this is often used for keeping certain public facilities, such as preschool
Preschool education
Preschool education is the provision of learning to children before the commencement of statutory and obligatory education, usually between the ages of zero and three or five, depending on the jurisdiction....
, synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
s, grocery store
Grocery store
A grocery store is a store that retails food. A grocer, the owner of a grocery store, stocks different kinds of foods from assorted places and cultures, and sells these "groceries" to customers. Large grocery stores that stock products other than food, such as clothing or household items, are...
s, sport facilities, youth clubs, swimming pool
Swimming pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...
s, etc., in the hands of the entire community. However, unlike 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...
or a moshav
Moshav
Moshav is a type of Israeli town or settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists during the second aliyah...
, the economic cooperation between residents is very loose - most residents work outside the settlement, and residents only pay minimal property tax
Property tax
A property tax is an ad valorem levy on the value of property that the owner is required to pay. The tax is levied by the governing authority of the jurisdiction in which the property is located; it may be paid to a national government, a federated state or a municipality...
es to the cooperative to help maintain the town and its public facilities.
Note that despite a popular misconception, the mere existence of community-owned facilities is not what differentiates community settlements from ordinary towns, as most ordinary towns also have the same types of facilities - preschool, synagogues, sport centers and sometimes even swimming pools - owned and operated by the town. Likewise, the mere existence of a democratic body of residents which makes decisions and organizes events for the whole community is not a defining feature of community settlements: Ordinary towns also have their own local governments which are democratically elected by their residents.
Most community settlements are small, with no more than several hundred residents, and are therefore too small to form their own separate formal municipalities. Instead, the residents' cooperative is recognized by the state of Israel as a local committee. Several such local committees can, for example, form together a regional council
Regional council (Israel)
Regional councils are one of the three types of local government entities found in Israel, with the other two being cities and local councils. As of 2003, there were 53 regional councils in Israel, usually responsible for governing a number of settlements spread across rural areas...
, which is one of the three types of local government
Local government
Local government refers collectively to administrative authorities over areas that are smaller than a state.The term is used to contrast with offices at nation-state level, which are referred to as the central government, national government, or federal government...
in Israel. In practice, the regional council often has more impact on the resident's life than the cooperative of their own settlement: It is the regional council which will normally run schools, build roads, collect property taxes, and even run its own screening process.
Common features
As explained above, what really sets apart a community settlement from an ordinary town is its ability to select its residents. However, when one looks at the 150 or so community settlements in Israel, more common features can be spotted in most, though not all, community settlements. These common features include:- Community settlements are predominantly ruralRuralRural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...
and exurban. As explained above, the land of most community settlements is owned by the Israel Land AdministrationIsrael Land AdministrationThe Israel Land Administration is part of the government of Israel and is responsible for managing the 93% of the land in Israel which is in the public domain. These lands are either property of the state, belong to the Jewish National Fund which controls 13% of the land, or belong to the Israel...
; One of this organization's explicit goals is to populate Israel's peripheral areas, rather than have the population continue to gravitate toward its central Gush DanGush DanThe Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area , or Gush Dan , is a metropolitan area including areas from both the Tel Aviv and the Central Districts of Israel. The area is closely linked to the city of Tel Aviv through social, economic, and cultural ties. It is located along the Israeli Mediterranean coastline...
area. - Houses in Community settlements are predominantly, if not exclusively, single-family homes and not apartment buildings. One explanation for this is, again, the desire to spread-out the population. Another explanation is that the availability of affordable single-family houses is actually one the main attraction points of the new towns, which would otherwise not be very appealing to potential residents. Finally, building an apartment building is a much more complex financial enterprise for the cooperative than each family building its own home out of its own funds.
- Community settlements are predominantly small, with a few hundreds of residents. This is caused by a combination of the town's young age, the typically small area or land allocated to the town, and the desire to build only single-family houses. Many community settlements start out small, with only few dozen families, and over the years slowly grow and accept new families.
- Residents of community settlements are typically very involved in their community. They know their neighbors well, they volunteer for various committees which run the town and its facilities, and they often meet together for various events and celebrations. A genuine feeling of community is often felt in these settlements, which is why that word was chosen to describe this form of settlement. The strong sense of community is of course made possible by the small size of the towns, and also by favoring applicants who seek strong community ties over applicants who seek to live within their own four walls without ever seeing a neighbor.
- Although JewsJewsThe 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...
constitute about 75% of Israel's general population, communal settlements are almost entirely Jewish. Some community settlements openly require applicants to be Jews (e.g., by declaring themselves a religious community), while other community settlements find more indirect ways to reject non-Jewish candidates, usually claiming "lack of social compatibility". Another problem for non-Jews is that the Jewish National Fund, the owner of the land in many community settlements, views itself as a Jewish organization whose mission is to spread the Jewish population, and therefore refuses to lease to non-Jews. See more in "Controversy" below. - Today, most community settlements are gated communitiesGated communityIn its modern form, a gated community is a form of residential community or housing estate containing strictly-controlled entrances for pedestrians, bicycles, and automobiles, and often characterized by a closed perimeter of walls and fences. Gated communities usually consist of small residential...
, i.e., are enclosed in a fence and a gate which allow only residents (or their visitors) to enter. The reason stated for installing these is usually to deter thieves. Enclosing the entire town is practical because of the small size of its population, and the relatively controlled nature of its permanent population.
History and today
The first community settlement in Israel was Neve MonossonNeve Monosson
Neve Monosson , also known as Neve Efraim and Neve Efraim Monosson, commonly called Monosson by its residents, is a communal settlement in central Israel with the autonomous status of a municipal borough within the joint municipality of Yehud-Monosson...
, in Gush Dan
Gush Dan
The Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area , or Gush Dan , is a metropolitan area including areas from both the Tel Aviv and the Central Districts of Israel. The area is closely linked to the city of Tel Aviv through social, economic, and cultural ties. It is located along the Israeli Mediterranean coastline...
which was established in 1953. Many Israeli settlement
Israeli settlement
An Israeli settlement is a Jewish civilian community built on land that was captured by Israel from Jordan, Egypt, and Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War and is considered occupied territory by the international community. Such settlements currently exist in the West Bank...
s on throughout the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
are set up as community settlements; there are also many such communities in the 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...
and elsewhere in rural northern Israel.
Most community settlements in Israel are relatively small, with a few hundred or thousand residents. Some communities are even smaller, with fewer than 30 residents. Some communities cater to specific populations, such as the Haredi town of Betar Illit
Betar Illit
Beitar Illit is an Israeli settlement and city west of Gush Etzion, south of Jerusalem, in the Judean Mountains of the West Bank. At the end of 2007, it had a total population of 38,800 consisting of over 6000 families. By 2020, the population is expected to reach 100,000...
.
Controversy
To permanently move to a community settlement one must join the cooperative. An interview and acceptance process is often required to join the cooperative and move into the community.The Association for Civil Rights in Israel
Association for Civil Rights in Israel
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel was created as an independent non-partisan organization to protect human rights and civil rights in Israel and the territories under its control....
has charged that this screening process is designed to deny membership to Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
s, and that sometimes Jews of specific ethnic or socio-economic groups are also discriminated against. Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights issued a press release:
However, these communities are predominantly self-selective. Many communities are open and welcoming to all who wish to join their community.