YAKUM

YAKUM (Heb. יָקוּם; "He Shall Rise"), kibbutz in central Israel, in the southern Sharon, 7 mi. (11 km.) S. of Netanyah, affiliated with Ha-Kibbutz ha-Arẓi ha-Shomer ha-Ẓa'ir. Yakum was founded in 1947, during the struggle of the yishuv with the Mandatory government. The founders were Israeli-born graduates of the Ha-Shomer ha-Ẓa'ir movement, joined mainly by immigrant youth from Holland, Bulgaria, and France. In 1970 Yakum had 358 inhabitants, in the mid-1990s the population increased to 470, rising still further to 523 by 2002. Farming was based mainly on plantations and dairy cattle. The kibbutz had a factory for specialized plastics products. In addition, it benefited from its proximity to the Tel Aviv conurbation. It had an interest in a nearby gas station, operated a convention center, and developed a hi-tech industrial park on its land. -WEBSITE: www.yakum.co.il\>\> . (Efraim Orni / Shaked Gilboa (2nd ed.)