Website www.degania-b.org.il Local time Sunday 6:57 PM | Population (2015) 643 Founded 1920 | |
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Weather 17°C, Wind NW at 5 km/h, 60% Humidity | ||
Degania Bet (Hebrew: דְּגַנְיָה ב') is a kvutza or kibbutz in northern Israel. Located to the south of the Sea of Galilee adjacent to Degania Alef, it falls under the jurisdiction of Emek HaYarden Regional Council. Degania Bet was established in 1920. In 2015 it had a population of 643.
Contents
Map of Degania Bet, Israel
British Mandate
Degania Bet was founded in 1920 by immigrants from the Second Aliyah, led by Levi Brevda (Levi Ben Amitai). It was the first planned kibbutz and was designed and built by the German Jewish architect Fritz Kornberg. One of its founders was Levi Eshkol. During the 1920 Palestine riots it was attacked and abandoned for several months.
During the 1936–39 Arab revolt it served as a base for establishing tower and stockade settlements.
In the 1931 census of Palestine Deganya B had a population of 138, all Jews, in a total of 39 houses. increasing in 1945, to 290, still all Jewish.
War of Independence 1948
On May 20, 1948, during the Battles of the Kinarot Valley, in one of the first battles of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, the residents of Degania Alef and Bet, assisted by a small number of military personnel, repelled a Syrian attack and succeeded in halting the advance of the Syrian army into the Jordan Valley.
Economy
In addition to its 350 cow dairy herd, crop fields, almond orchards, banana, date and avocado plantations, Degania Bet industrialized in the 1960s with Degania Sprayers, now a green industry; in 1984 it opened the Degania Silicone factory. An additional source of income is its kibbutz cottage tourist accommodation, and it specializes in organized bicycle tours.