Neve Michael

Archaeology

Archaeological finds range from the Early Hellenistic period to the Umayyad period with evidence of a Jewish settlement in the first century CE.^[3]

Near the moshav are the ruins of Adullam and Hurvat Itri.

Arab village

The moshav was preceded by the Palestinian Arab village of Bayt Nattif, which was depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. ^[4] The place where the moshav stands was known in the 19th century as Khirbet Jurfah.^[5]

Roglit

The village of Roglit was established on 29 July 1958 (12 Av 5718 anno mundi) by a group of Jewish immigrants from Iranian Kurdistan, on farm land that had belonged to Bayt Nattif.^[6][4] In 1958, the newly restructured Jewish National Fund (JNF), working in concert with the Hitahdut HaIkarim agricultural organisation, settled new immigrants on the site giving to the place the name Roglit (Hebrew: רוֹגְלִית), meaning "tiller [of the grapevine]".^{[citation needed]} The new immigrants were initially employed as laborers for JNF land reclamation.^{[citation needed]} The founders were joined by immigrants from North Africa, mainly Morocco.^[6]

An Israel Border Police outpost was also built^[when?] in Neve Michael,^{[clarification needed]} which was later abandoned in 1962^{[dubious – discuss]}.^{[citation needed]}

After the JNF-related years, the village^[which?] economy was based on agriculture (citrus fruit) and poultry, which phased out in the late 1980s.^{[citation needed]}

Neve Michael

A newer^[when?] regional community center built alongside it^{[citation needed]} was given the name Neve Michael, in memory of American philanthropist, Michael M. Weiss,^[7] who was a donor to the JNF.^{[citation needed]} The newer section had a regional elementary school which catered to children from the surrounding communities of Roglit, Aderet and Aviezer, but closed its doors in the early 1980s.^{[citation needed]} Today, the grounds of the old school serve as a home for the mentally and physically disabled.^[8]

1983 merger; new Neve Michael

When the new settlement of Neve Michael failed to attract new residents, it was merged with Roglit in 1983.^[8]

In 2005 the village started an expansion plan attracting many younger families to the moshav. The moshav has a mixed population with people of different ages, ethnic background and Jewish religious observance.^{[citation needed]}