Kfar Giladi
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 Founders' house | |
  Kfar Giladi  Kfar Giladi | |
| Coordinates:33°14′33″N35°34′30″E / 33.24250°N 35.57500°E /33.24250; 35.57500 | |
| Country |  Israel |
| District | Northern |
| Council | Upper Galilee |
| Affiliation | Kibbutz Movement |
| Founded | 1916 |
| Founded by | Hashomer members |
| Population (2023)[1] | 789 |
| Website | www |
Kfar Giladi (Hebrew:כפר גלעדי,lit. 'Giladi Village') is akibbutz in theGalilee Panhandle of northernIsrael.[2] Located south ofMetula on theNaftali Mountains above theHula Valley and along theLebanese border, it falls under the jurisdiction ofUpper Galilee Regional Council. In 2023, it had a population of 789.[1]
Kfar Giladi is also notable for archaeological discoveries such asNeolithic andChalcolithic findings[3][4] as well as the remains of aJewish mausoleum dating fromRoman times.[5]
Kfar Giladi was founded in 1916 by members ofHashomer on land owned by theJewish Colonisation Association. It was named afterIsrael Giladi, one of the founders of the Hashomer movement. The area was subject to intermittent border adjustments between the British and the French, and in 1919, the British relinquished the northern section of the Upper Galilee containingTel Hai,Metula, Hamra, and Kfar Giladi to theFrench jurisdiction. Afterthe Arab attack on Tel Hai in 1920, it was temporarily abandoned. Ten months later, the settlers returned. Several older buildings stand on the kibbutz that memorialize previous battles on the site, before and during the1948 Arab–Israeli War.
In 1921 a top secret arms store was dug 10 metres into the hillside. Measuring 5 by 5 metres square and 2 metres high its entrance was concealed in a stable. It was never discovered by the Mandate authorities.[6]
Between 1916 and 1932, the population totaled 40–70. In 1932, the kibbutz absorbed 100 newcomers, mainly young immigrants. From 1922 to 1948, between 8,000–10,000 Jewish immigrants were smuggled into Palestine through Kibbutz Giladi, circumventing the Mandatory ban onJewish immigration.[7] The immigrants came from Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, Afghanistan and Eastern Europe.
In an operation known as Mivtzah HaElef, 1,300 Jewish children were smuggled out of Syria between 1945 and 1948. At the kibbutz, the children were dressed in work clothes and hidden in the kibbutz chicken coops and cowsheds.[7]
In August 2006, during the2006 Lebanon War, twelvereserveIDF soldiers were killed after being hit by aKatyusha rocket launched byHezbollah fromSouthern Lebanon. The group ofartillery gunners were gathering on the kibbutz in preparation for action in the conflict.
During theGaza war, northern Israeli border communities, including Kfar Giladi, faced targeted attacks byHezbollah andPalestinian factions based in Lebanon, and were evacuated.[8]
On 30 September 2024, theIsraeli Defense Forces (IDF) launched alimited ground invasion intoSouthern Lebanon. On that same day, the IDF declared that Kfar Giladi became a closed military area.[9]
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Eight historic buildings built in 1922 are being preserved and restored. Built of Galilee stone and materials imported from Lebanon, they are among the few remaining vestiges of early kibbutz housing.[2]
An archaeological site at Kfar Giladi was excavated in 1957 and 1962.[3] It revealed remains four stages of occupation in different periods. An earlyNeolithic stage was suggested to date between 6400 and 5800BC. Finds includedDark faced burnished ware with incisions andrope patterns.[10]Flints includedaxes,adzes,arrowheads and denticulatedsickle blade elements. Similar finds were located in a later neolithic stage including a femaleclay figurine dating between 5800 and 5400 BC. Two later periods of occupation were attributed toChalcolithic occupations similar toWadi Rabah.[4]
Another nearby Neolithic site was excavated in 1973.[11] They foundByblos points and tips ofJericho points andAmuq points, polished cutting axes, chisels and fine-toothed sickles. Finds were similar toTell Ramad.[11]
In 1961, J. Kaplan conducted an excavation at Giv'at ha-Shoqet, a hill located southwest of the built area of Kfar Giladi, and revealed amausoleum with three burial levels. The uppermost level, Stratum I, contained an empty sarcophagus inscribed with theHebrew name Hezekiah, indicating it belonged to aJewish individual. Kaplan proposed that the mausoleum was built to house this sarcophagus.[5]
The layer below, Stratum II, situated beneath the mausoleum floor, contained seven rectangular graves, some featuring lead coffins adorned with depictions such asHercules; one of them had a gold diadem and bracelet adorned withsemi-precious stones. The lowest stratum (stratum III) included a marble sarcophagus belonging to Heracleides.[5]
Kaplan identified two usage periods: the first (Stratum I and III) dating to no later than theSeveran dynasty (192–235 AD), with Hezekiah and Heracleides buried, and the second (Stratum II) with the seven graves dating around 290–310 AD.[5]
| Climate data for Kfar Giladi (2007-2020 Temperature Normals, 1935-1948, 2007-2020 Temperature Extremes, 1991-2020 Precipitation Normals) | |||||||||||||
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| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 23.3 (73.9) | 27.1 (80.8) | 33.3 (91.9) | 38.4 (101.1) | 40.5 (104.9) | 40.9 (105.6) | 41.3 (106.3) | 43.5 (110.3) | 45.2 (113.4) | 38.8 (101.8) | 33.8 (92.8) | 30.8 (87.4) | 45.2 (113.4) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 14.8 (58.6) | 17.1 (62.8) | 20.2 (68.4) | 24.2 (75.6) | 28.4 (83.1) | 31.2 (88.2) | 32.9 (91.2) | 33.3 (91.9) | 32.1 (89.8) | 29.1 (84.4) | 23.1 (73.6) | 17.7 (63.9) | 25.3 (77.5) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 11.3 (52.3) | 13.1 (55.6) | 15.6 (60.1) | 18.8 (65.8) | 22.6 (72.7) | 25.3 (77.5) | 27.1 (80.8) | 27.7 (81.9) | 26.4 (79.5) | 24.1 (75.4) | 18.7 (65.7) | 14.0 (57.2) | 20.4 (68.7) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 7.9 (46.2) | 9.1 (48.4) | 11.0 (51.8) | 13.5 (56.3) | 16.9 (62.4) | 19.4 (66.9) | 21.4 (70.5) | 22.0 (71.6) | 20.8 (69.4) | 18.6 (65.5) | 14.4 (57.9) | 10.3 (50.5) | 15.4 (59.7) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −3.0 (26.6) | −4.0 (24.8) | 0.0 (32.0) | 2.0 (35.6) | 9.0 (48.2) | 12.8 (55.0) | 16.0 (60.8) | 15.5 (59.9) | 12.0 (53.6) | 11.0 (51.8) | 4.0 (39.2) | −1.2 (29.8) | −4.0 (24.8) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 197.1 (7.76) | 160.8 (6.33) | 89.7 (3.53) | 38.0 (1.50) | 9.6 (0.38) | 0.7 (0.03) | 0.1 (0.00) | 0.1 (0.00) | 4.3 (0.17) | 22.8 (0.90) | 81.1 (3.19) | 152.8 (6.02) | 757.1 (29.81) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 0.1 mm) | 13.6 | 11.8 | 9.6 | 5.7 | 3.0 | 0.3 | 0 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 4.6 | 7.7 | 12.0 | 69.3 |
| Source:Israel Meteorological Service[12][13] | |||||||||||||
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