Shefayim (Hebrew: שְ×פָיִי×‬, lit. High Hills) is a kibbutz in central Israel located 2.5 miles north of Herzliya along the Mediterranean coast. Shefayim falls under the jurisdiction of Hof HaSharon Regional Council. In 2016 it had a population of 1,242.
History
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Kibbutz Shefayim was established in 1935 by Jewish immigrants from Poland. The name is taken from Isaiah 41:18: "I will open rivers in high places." During the British Mandate for Palestine, Shefayim was a base for clandestine immigration.
In the 1948 Arabâ€"Israeli War, it absorbed refugees from kibbutz Beit HaArava.
In the early 1970s, the kibbutz established Polycad, a plastics factory. In the early 1980s, it established the Shafit biotechnology plant. In the mid-1990s, it acquired the Zirei Israel plant, which has become a leader in the Israeli cotton-ginning industry.
In 2012 IBM acquired New York- and Shefayim-based mobile application developer Worklight Ltd., founded in 2006 by Shahar Kaminitz, formerly of Amdocs.
Kibbutz Shefayim is one of the wealthiest members of the kibbutz movement and was one of the few kibbutzim that did not require debt assistance from the state and banks during the recession in the 1980s. On the contrary, Shefayim contributed NIS 4 million to help failing kibbutzim. The main income source of the kibbutz is Hutzot Shefayim, a shopping mall, on real-estate previously classified as agricultural land. Other sources of income are a hotel and conference center, and a water park.
Notable residents
- Orit Noked, member of the Knesset
References
External links
- Official Website
- Shefayim water park (in Hebrew)
- Hotel Shefayim
