NEVATIM

NEVATIM (Heb. נְבָטִים; "Sprouts"), moshav in southern Israel, 5 mi. (9 km.) E. of Beersheba, affiliated with Tenu'at ha-Moshavim. It was the easternmost moshav of the 11 settlements erected in the night of Oct. 6, 1946, in the south and Negev. The founding group originated from various European countries, but immigrants from Cochin (South India) took their place after 1948. Nevatim's farming was of the oasis type, based on greenhouses and poultry. Some residents were employed outside the moshav, in the nearby factories. In 1968 Nevatim's population was 426, increasing to 540 in the mid-1990s and 753 in 2002 after expansion. (Efraim Orni / Shaked Gilboa (2nd ed.)