Settlements established by the Israeli Nahal Brigade
Symbol of the modern-day Nahal Brigade of the Israel Defense ForcesTwo Israeli women with their livestock in Nahal Yam, a Nahal settlement in the Israeli-occupied Sinai Peninsula, 1969 (National Library of Israel)
Nahal settlements (Hebrew: היאחזות נח"לHeahzut Nahal) were Israeli settlements established by Israeli soldiers of Nahal in both Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories.
Supporting the growth and expansion of Israeli Jews was once the main focus of Nahal troops of the Israel Defense Forces and was primarily carried out through the Garin program.[1] The goal for every Nahal settlement was to become a civilian settlement and serve as a first line of defense against potential future Arab invasions while providing a base of operations and resources for Israeli troops operating in peripheral regions.[2]
This method of encouraging settlement was particularly effective in regions of Israel that were less desirable for human inhabitation (mainly the Negev, the Galilee, and the Aravah) between 1948 and 1967. After the 1967 Arab–Israeli War, Nahal settlements were also established in the newly Israeli-occupied territories (the Jordanian-annexed West Bank and the Egyptian-occupied Gaza Strip, and the Syrian Golan Heights and the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula) in pursuit of similar goals.
The first such settlement was Nahal Oz, located in the northwestern Negev in Israel, near the Gaza–Israel border.
A number of former Nahal settlements, which were originally military, are now entirely civilian; many of today's kibbutzim were originally Nahal settlements. The last Nahal settlement was closed in 2001.
^Davis, Uri (October 1973). "Palestine into Israel". Journal of Palestine Studies. 3 (1): 88–105. doi:10.2307/2535529. JSTOR 2535529.
^"Nachal Infantry Brigade". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
Nahalsettlements (Hebrew: היאחזות נח"ל Heahzut Nahal) were Israeli settlements established by Israeli soldiers of Nahal in both Israel and the Israeli-occupied...
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Nahal Yam (Hebrew: נח"ל ים) was a Nahalsettlement in the Israeli-occupied Sinai Peninsula. Located 80 kilometres (50 mi) to the east of the Suez Canal...
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Kafr Qallil and Iraq Burin. Har Brakha was first established as a pioneer Nahal military outpost, and demilitarized when turned over to residential purposes...
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Israel between Magen and Nirim and was founded on 1 October 1955 as the Nahalsettlement. Due to its proximity to the Gaza Strip the kibbutz has seen constant...
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land of Israel and renewed the Jewish settlement in Safed and surrounding area, and reinforced the Jewish settlement in Jerusalem and Hebron. In 1860 Jewish...
had a population of 656. The kibbutz was established on 20 May 1950 by a Nahal gar'in of Hashomer Hatzair members from France and Tunisia who had been...
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