Hazon, Israel
Moshav in northern Israel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hazon (Hebrew: חָזוֹן) is a religious moshav in the Upper Galilee, northern Israel, belonging to the Merom HaGalil Regional Council. It is located on the northwestern sloped of Mount Hazon in the lower Galilee[2], nine kilometers east of Carmiel[3] at an elevation of about 440 meters above sea level.[4]
Hazon
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|---|---|
Hazon upon its establishment | |
  Hazon Location within Northeast Israel  Hazon Location within Israel | |
| Coordinates: 32°54′22″N 35°23′37″E | |
| Country |  Israel |
| District | Northern |
| Subdistrict | Safed |
| Council | Merom HaGalil |
| Affiliation | Hapoel HaMizrachi |
| Founded | 1969 |
| Founded by | Moshavniks from Galilee |
| Population (2024)[1] | 388 |
| Website | www.mizra.org.il |
History
Hazon was founded as part of "מבצע סו"ס" (Sof-Sof, Hebrew "Finally") operation[5][6], a governmental programme to implement the policy of Judaization of the Galilee, which was initiated in 1963 by the Settlement Department of the Jewish Agency for Israel.[7][8]
The planners of the programme identified 70,000 dunams of land suitable for agricultural cultivation in the Galilee, after intensive land preparation, as well as 250,000 dunams suitable for grazing. They formulated a plan to establish, in several stages, 37 agricultural settlements, each consisting of 70 residential units, along with seven regional centres.[9]
Hazon was originally intended to serve as a regional centre for four additional moshavim that were planned to be established around Mount Hazon.[5] Later, it was decided that at one of the planned locations (a ridge between Mount Lavnim and Mount Hazon), instead of a moshav, an Israel Defense Forces training base would be established (Michve Alon, established in 1966).[10][11]
In February 1964, the Jewish National Fund completed the construction of an access road to Mount Hazon and began preparing 1,000 dunams of rocky, uncultivated land on the mountain for agriculture.[12] After the land preparation, orchards of pear, apple, peach and plum trees were planted.[13] The goal was for the residents of the moshav to receive an active and economically viable farm immediately upon its establishment.[14]
The establishment of the moshav was approved in June 1965, and it was designated for a group of children of moshav residents from the Hapoel HaMizrachi movement.[15][16]
A cornerstone-laying ceremony was held on 30 August 1965, in the presence of Welfare Minister Yosef Burg.[17] The settlement of the moshav was delayed for several years due to delays in completing its buildings and infrastructure.[14][18] It was populated in July 1969.[19] In December 1968, before it was populated, Hazon was incorporated into the territory of the Merom HaGalil Regional Council as its 20th community.[20]
According to Walid Khalidi, Hazon was established on land located near the depopulated Palestinian village of Al-Mansura.[21]
In 1976, the Jewish Agency ended its assistance to the moshav after it sold some of its crops to Arab contractors.[22]