Kfar Haruv is an 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...

, 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...

, located in the southern Golan Heights. A member of the Kibbutz Movement

Kibbutz Movement

The Kibbutz Movement is the largest settlement movement for kibbutzim in Israel. It was formed in 1999 by a partial merger of the United Kibbutz Movement and Kibbutz Artzi.-United Kibbutz Movement:...

, it falls under the jurisdiction of Golan Regional Council

Golan Regional Council

The Golan Regional Council is the regional council consolidating almost all Israeli settlements located on the Golan Heights. It is made up of 19 moshavim and 10 kibbutzim, and other villages...

. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the Golan Heights illegal under international law

International law and Israeli settlements

The international community considers the establishment of Israeli settlements in the Israeli-occupied territories illegal under international law, but Israel maintains that they are consistent with international law because it does not agree that the Fourth Geneva Convention applies to the...

, but the Israeli government disputes this.

Geography

The kibbutz is located on the edge of the cliffs 315 metres (1,033.5 ft) above sea level (about 525 metres (1,722.4 ft) above the Sea of Galilee

Sea of Galilee

The Sea of Galilee, also Kinneret, Lake of Gennesaret, or Lake Tiberias , is the largest freshwater lake in Israel, and it is approximately in circumference, about long, and wide. The lake has a total area of , and a maximum depth of approximately 43 m...

) and 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) east of the sea.

History

The settlement was founded in 1973, and took its name from an Arab village that had been located there, Kafr Hareb which was apparently named for the village Haruva that existed during the Talmud

Talmud

The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....

ic era. Its residents settled temporarily in Afik camp, and moved to the present-day location (the site of a Syrian army

Military of Syria

The Syrian Armed Forces are the military forces of Syria. They consist of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Air Defense Force.-Manpower:The President of Syria is the commander in chief of the Syrian armed forces, comprising some 646,500 troops upon mobilization. The military is a conscripted force;...

 base that overlooks Ein Gev and HaOn) in 1974. The sixteenth Israeli settlement established in the Golan Heights, its members are native Israelis and immigrants from the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. As of 2011 the population is 400 residents, of whom 90 live in the new neighborhood built in 2004.

Economy

The main employer of the settlement is the A.R.I. factory that it owns, which manufactures hydraulic equipment. The settlement continues to grow plants for agriculture

Agriculture

Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

, such as almonds, avocado, nectars, and peaches. It also has a cow stable for milk. There is also a laundromat and curtain-maker. The settlement is a partner in the tourist site Hamat Gader

Hamat Gader

Hamat Gader is a site in the Yarmouk River valley, near the Sea of Galilee in the Golan Heights. The name means "hot springs of Gadara", referring to the several mineral springs with temperatures up to 50°C...

, and it operates Mitzpe LeShalom (Peace Vista), a place for recreation on the edge of the On Cliffs.

External links

• Kfar Haruv Golan Heights website