Kibutzim in Israel Face New Problems
JERUSALEM — When Israel be-
came independent in 1948, settlers
in kibutzim comprised about 7.5
per cent of its population. Since
then the total population increased
about fourfold, while the number
of Kibutz members only doubled.
As a result, kibutz settlers now
represent only about 3.7 per cent
of the total population.
These simple statistics both rep-
resent one of the central problems
of the kibutz movement, facing all
kibutzim, irrespective whether
they belong to the leftist, center or
religious settlement organizations.
The issue has been troubling the
kibutzim for many years now. It
became a subject for broader dis-
cussion in recent weeks when the
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The relative decrease of member-
ship since independence worries
the kibutzim for several reasons,
some of them practical and some
ideological, some of them genuine
and some of them not so genuine.
In general, a new kibutz comes
into being in one of two ways;
either a number of young people in
Israel or abroad organize them-
selves into a "garin" (kernel) and
establish their settlement, or young
people of the second generation in
an established kibutz decide to
stake out on their own. In both
cases, the land for the new settle-
ment is provided by the Keren
Kayemet (Jewish National Fund),
while their parent-movements and
the Jewish Agency provide the
initial capital needed.
To enable growth "from the
inside," kibutz movements
naturally want to be able to ab-
sorb new members in the older,
established settlements. Also, a
certain percentage of old mem-
bers are always leaving the
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kibutzim, jointly with the Jewish
Agency and the Ministry of Labor,
published ads in the papers urging
city and town dwellers hit by the
present economic recession to join
a kibutz as a solution to their
personal difficulties.
kibutzim for the cities, and there
is the problem of natural aging
of the original settlers. All this
makes the influx of new, younger
members highly desirable. On
the other hand, few kibutzim
will admit yet to a development
in the opposite direction: as
farming becomes more and more
mechanized (and kibutzim usu-
ally are pace-setters in this
field) fewer and fewer hands
are required to cultivate the
land. Those who have become
thus superfluous in agriculture
are transfered to manufacture,
and this is one of the main rea-
sons why more and more kib-
utzim add factories to their
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to one of the national organiza-
tions of kibutzim, divided along
political-ideological lines. These or-
ganizations are directly affiliated
with the various political parties.
Therefore the desire to grow and
multiply is also an aspect of com-
petition both inside the political
parties and among the parties.
And above this "internal" motiva-
tion for growth there is the
broader, more abstract concern of
the kibutz movement as a whole
over the decrease of relative im-
portance and impact in the social
and ideological fabric of Israel.
Before the establishment of the
state, and during the first years
of its existence, kibutzim were the
epitome of the ideals of chalutziut
(pioneering) that built the Jewish
national homeland. It is no coinci_
dence that most of Israel's present
leaders are—or at least were in
their younger years—members of
a kibutz. Things have changed
since, and the ideas and aspira-
tions of most Israelis are rather
middle-class. The challenges, of
course, have also changed. And
naturally, as immigration became
less and less selective, the pro-
portion of those with strong pio-
neering ideological motivation has
also decreased.
Yet the kibutz movement feels,
and not entirely without reason,
that simple numerical factors also
play here an important role: it is
certainly a big difference whether
7.5 per cent or 3.7 per cent of the
population lives in kibutzim.
Life in the kibutzim has also
changed fundamentally and this
is stressed in the present cam-
paign to attract new members
from among the city dwellers af-
fected by the economic reces-
sion. Leaders of the kibutz move-
ment feel that many Israelis
still retain the old picture of
the kibutz as a life of hard
manual work with no ameni-
ties or luxuries, and of ideologi-
cal and political discussions as
the main staple of after-work
relaxation.
Today, in fact, living conditions
e•
: in many, if not most, established
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kibutzim compare favorably with
those of average middle-class liv-
ing conditions in cities. Apart-
ments are nicely furnished, the
women-folk are fashionably dressed
after work, the community hall
resembles a club house with es-
presso bars and soda-fountains,
many kibutzim now even have
beauty parlors. And, in the,Plead
of physical recreation an the
quality of schools, not many city
dwellers can enjoy the same high
standards as most kibutz mem-
bers can.
Thus the kibutz movement feels
that its own attractions, together
with the new pressures "outside,"
may well mark 1967 as a year of
major growth in their membership.
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By ELIAHU SALPETER
(C opyright, 1967, JTA Inc.)