TEL KAẒIR

TEL KAẒIR (Heb. תֵּל קָצִיר), kibbutz in northern Israel, S.E. of Lake Kinneret, affiliated with Iḥud ha-Kevuẓot ve-ha-Kibbutzim. Tel Kaẓir was founded in 1949 by members of the Israel Scout Movement on a site which had served during the war of Independence (1948) as an advanced fortified enemy position in the Syrian attack on the Jordan Valley settlements. Until the six-day war (1967), Tel Kaẓir, lying close to and beneath the Syrian positions beyond the border, was continually subject to Syrian attacks. While the gravest danger was overcome when the Golan Heights fell to Israel's forces in June 1967, the kibbutz continued to lie within artillery range from beyond the Jordanian border in the south. In 1967 kibbutz lands to which the Syrians had barred all access were reclaimed and intensively cultivated. Bananas, fruit orchards, dairy cattle, poultry, and ostrich raising constituted its prominent branches of farming. The kibbutz also developed a tourism industry, including a holiday resort, guest rooms, and organized trips. In the mid-1990s, Tel Kaẓir's population numbered 364, dropping to 225 in 2002. The name, meaning "Mound of Harvest," was adapted from the former Arabic name of the site. (Efram Orni / Shaked Gilboa (2nd ed.)