Re'im

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Kibbutz in southern Israel

title: "Re'im" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["re'im", "1949-establishments-in-israel", "gaza-envelope", "kibbutzim", "kibbutz-movement", "populated-places-established-in-1949", "populated-places-in-southern-district-(israel)"] description: "Kibbutz in southern Israel" topic_path: "geography/israel" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Re'im" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Kibbutz in southern Israel ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox Kibbutz"]

Field	Value
name	Re'im
image	REIM01.jpg
caption	The dining room was designed by Hanan Havron, a kibbutz member
hebname
meaning	Friends
foundation	1949
founded_by	Scouts Federation and former Palmach members
district	south
council	Eshkol
affiliation	Kibbutz Movement
popyear
population
population_footnotes
pushpin_map	Israel northwest negev#Israel
pushpin_mapsize	250
pushpin_label_position	bottom
coordinates
website	www.reim.org.il
::

Re'im () is a secular kibbutz in southern Israel, and one of the Gaza vicinity villages. Located at the confluence of Besor Stream and Gerar Stream in the north-western Negev desert, it falls under the jurisdiction of Eshkol Regional Council. In , it had a population of .

In 2008, Kibbutz Re'im launched a solar power project, becoming the first community in Israel—and possibly the world—fully powered by solar energy for domestic use. The project was estimated to cost ₪60–100 million, with expected returns within 10 years. Profits and costs were to be shared equally between the kibbutz and the Solar company, with surplus electricity sold to the Israel Electric Company.

Re'im was founded in 1949 by members of the Israel Boy and Girl Scouts Federation who were demobilized from the Palmach. The kibbutz was designed by the architect . The building, which was used by the Havron for decades as his office, is today the kibbutz's heritage building, with a display of the history of the place.

Geography

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/PikiWiki_Israel_34498_Plants_of_Israel.JPG" caption="Anemone coronaria near Re'im"] ::

Re'im is located between roads 232 and 234 in the western Negev, next to the Re'im Junction and Gama Junction. The ruins of ancient Gama (Tell Jemmeh) are located to the west of the kibbutz. West of Re'im is the kibbutz Kissufim, and north is Be'eri. Re'im's elevation is 50 m above sea level, and the Besor Stream passes through its territory.

History

The kibbutz was established in 1949 by former Palmach members with the provisional name HaTzofim Vav (). It was then named Tel Re'im (, ) after the Arabic translation of the nearby archaeological site of Tell Jemmeh. It was eventually renamed Re'im in memory of members of the Gar'in who were killed in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. The name, meaning 'friends', was taken from the Book of Proverbs (18:24) to symbolize them.

The kibbutz was planned by the architect Hanan Habaron, one of the founders of the kibbutz and a member until his death in 2002. The ascetic style was described as a visual expression of Habaron's social and architectural worldviews. Asaf Kashtan, an Israeli architect who wrote a book about Habaron, said that in recent years, Habaron's style fell out of favor with Re'im's residents.{{Cite news |last=Zandberg |first=Esther |date=8 May 2003 |script-title=he:השאיר אחריו קיבוץ למזכרת |language=he |trans-title=He left behind a kibbutz |work=Haaretz |access-date=14 August 2014 |url=https://www.haaretz.co.il/misc/1.880347

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has a base near the kibbutz. Prior to the Israeli disengagement from Gaza in 2005, the base was used as a camp for the evacuating troops. After the disengagement, Re'im became the target of Qassam rockets fired at it from the Gaza Strip.{{Cite news |last=Branovsky |first=Yael |script-title=he:עורף חזק |language=he |trans-title=Strong home front |work=nana10 |access-date=2008-12-24 |date=2006-07-29 |url=http://news.nana10.co.il/Article/?ArticleID=385654& |archive-date=24 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524165033/http://news.nana10.co.il/Article/?ArticleID=385654& |url-status=dead |last=Harel |first=Amos |title=IDF soldiers: We tried to no avail to have base near Nahal Oz relocated |work=Haaretz |access-date=14 August 2014 |url-access=registration |date=2008-11-30 |url=https://www.haaretz.com/news/idf-soldiers-we-tried-to-no-avail-to-have-base-near-nahal-oz-relocated-1.258515

On 7 October 2023 Re'im was attacked by Hamas during the battle of Re'im. Dozens of Israeli casualties were reported from the area. On the same day, a music festival was taking place on the kibbutz grounds. Hamas overran the event, indiscriminately shooting into the crowd, killing hundreds and committing acts of rape and sexual assault. Many others festival goers were wounded and some were taken hostage by Hamas. In the aftermath, the kibbutz's surviving residents were evacuated to Eilat, before being relocated to Tel Aviv.

Economy

As of 2008, the kibbutz's economy was based on agriculture and its laser factory, Isralaser.{{Cite news |title=Isralaser retools with $1 M laser project. (Isralaser-Reim, acquires laser machine) |work=Israel Business Today |access-date=2008-12-24 |date=1994-03-18 |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-14985908.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022185435/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-14985908.html |archive-date=2012-10-22

In 2008, Re'im embarked on a project that was planned make it the first community in Israel, and perhaps in the entire world, to rely entirely on solar energy for domestic consumption. Sunday, a company which marketed the technology in Israel, was to install solar panels on all 130 rooftops in the kibbutz. The cost of the project was estimated at and the investment was expected to pay for itself in 10 years. The cost and revenues from electricity were to be divided evenly between the kibbutz and Sunday, and any excess energy was to be sold to the Israel Electric Company.{{Cite news |last=Ben-David |first=Amir |title=The first solar kibbutz |publisher=Ynetnews |access-date=2008-12-24 |date=2008-12-22 |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3641794,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081223173750/http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3641794,00.html |archive-date=2008-12-23

Being one of the Gaza-vicinity villages, as of 2022, its residents are given an income tax benefit in accordance with Article 11 of the Income Tax Ordinance.

Security

Re'im is eligible for support in building fortified residential shelters, Merkhav Mugan Dirati, available for localities situated within a 7-kilometer radius from the Gaza Strip.

In June 2015, the construction of these residential shelters within individual family homes was completed. Given kibbutz Re'im's geographic proximity to Gaza, when a Red Color alarm is triggered, residents are required to promptly find shelter within a window of 8–15 seconds.

Archaeology

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/Tel-Gamma-57.jpg" caption="Tell Jemmeh, near kibbutz Re'im"] ::

Tell Jemmeh is a prominent 23 meter high mound located near Re'im. Archaeologists identify Tel Jemmeh with the Canaanite royal city of Yursa mentioned in the records of Thutmose III Pharaoh of Egypt who describes the city as the southernmost of the Canaanite cities that rebelled against Egypt.

During the period of the Amarna letters, a Canaanite governor named Pu-Ba'lu, who corresponded with Akhenaten, ruled the city.

Yursa is mentioned again in the inscription of Esarhaddon, King of Assyria, in which it is mentioned as one of the cities that rebelled against the Assyrian kingdom and as a result it was conquered and its queen was exiled to Nineveh.

Around a kilometre north to Re'im are remains that have been identified tentatively with those of the village of Kefar She'arta. These remains include an ancient building, a round cistern and fragments of pottery and glass from the Byzantine period. Yizhar Hirschfeld suggests that the building could have been the monastery of Zeno the Prophet, a 5th-century hermit.

References

Zandberg, Esther. (8 May 2003). "השאיר אחריו קיבוץ למזכרת". Haaretz.
"Gold Atlas". [[Mapa (publisher).
Vilnai, Ze'ev. (1980). "Re'im". Am Oved.
(2005). "Mapa's concise gazetteer of Israel". Mapa Publishing.
HaReuveni, Immanuel. (1999). "Lexicon of the Land of Israel". Miskal - Yedioth Ahronoth Books and Chemed Books.
(7 October 2023). "Report: Bodies being removed, identified from site of large party near Re'im". Times of Israel.
(2024-03-04). "UN finds 'clear and convincing' information hostages raped in Gaza".
Murphy, Paul P. (9 October 2023). "Desert horror: Music festival goers heard rockets, then Gaza militants fired on them and took hostages". [[CNN]].
(15 November 2023). "רעים יעברו לת"א, בארי מתלבטים: החיים הזמניים של המפונים מהעוטף".
"Host kibbutzim in the Negev". Zimmer.
"Kibbutz Re'im Information". Or Movement.
"Re'im".
(10 February 2022). "Guidelines for the implementation of the tax benefit for residents of the Gaza envelope have been issued".
"How Much Time to Reach the Protected Space?".
Gus w. van Beek, '''Digging up Tell Jemmeh''', ''[[Archaeology (magazine). Archaeology]]'', Vol. 31, No. 1, January/February 1983, Archaeological Institute of America pp.12–19
Van Beek, G.W., "Tell Gamma", IEJ 27, pp. 171–176, 1977
(2014). "The Smithsonian Institution Excavation at Tell Jemmeh, 1970–1990". Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press.
"Khirbet Se'arta; Ḥorvat Seorah - ZENO". The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
(1 January 2004). "Christian Gaza In Late Antiquity". BRILL.

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