Gilat is 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...

 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 in the western 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'...

 desert between 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 Ofakim, it falls under the jurisdiction of Merhavim Regional Council

Merhavim Regional Council

Merhavim Regional Council is a regional council in the South District of Israel. It covers 14 moshavim, a communal settlement, a youth village and an educational institution.-List of communities:*Moshavim...

. In 2007 it had a population of 965.

The moshav was founded in 1949 by immigrants from Tunisia

Tunisia

Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...

. Its name was taken from the Book of Isaiah

Book of Isaiah

The Book of Isaiah is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, preceding the books of Ezekiel, Jeremiah and the Book of the Twelve...

 35:2:

It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing.

Notable residents include Aharon Uzan

Aharon Uzan

Aharon Uzan was an Israeli politician who held several ministerial portfolios between the mid-1960s and mid-1980s.-Biography:Uzan was born in Moknine in Tunisia, and was a member of the right-wing Betar movement in his youth. He made aliyah to Israel in 1949 and joined the left-wing Mapai party...

, a government minister between the 1960s and 1980s, and Pini Badash

Pini Badash

Pinhas "Pini" Badash is an Israeli politician who has served as mayor of Omer local council since 1990. He was also a member of the Knesset for Tzomet between 1992 and 1998.-Biography:...

, a former Knesset member.