The Kibbutzim in Israel

Abstract

DR. DARIN-DRABKIN'S book1 presents a sociological and economic study of the kibbutzim in Israel. The kibbutz (pl. kibbutzim) is a communal form of settlement which represents the extreme in collectivization of both production and consumption. The first collective was established in Palestine in 1910, and by the end of 1962 there were 228 kibbutzim in Israel with a population of 80,000. Though their members constituted but 3.8 per cent of the Jewish population in Israel (in 1962), their political, economic, and social importance is far greater than would be indicated by demographic considerations alone. They produced about 30 per cent of Israel's gross agricultural production and 6 per cent of national industrial production. Politically their representation and influence in the Histadrut (Israel's very powerful trade union federation), the Knesset (Parliament), the government, and the Jewish Agency is far greater than their numerical ratio of the country's population. The author describes the pioneering efforts of the collectives in fructifying swamplands and deserts, in repelling hostile neighbors, and in establishing settlements in outlying parts of Palestine to further the political aims of the Zionist movement. He describes the increasing attraction these idealists had for Jewish youth, especially following the rise of the Nazis in the 1930's. The 1940's witnessed a rapid increase in the number of kibbutzim and the number of adherents flocking to its banners. They were very active in the organization and leadership of the Haganah, the underground Jewish armed forces, in the organization of the illegal immigration into Palestine, and in spearheading the Jewish defense during the war of Independence in 1947-48. The author, a strong protagonist of socialist ideology, sees the kibbutz movement in Israel as the noblest embodiment of the principles of socialism. He views the Israeli collectives as the historical successors of the various communal settlements which appeared in ancient, medieval, and modern times in many lands. In particular, the experiments of Robert Owen and of Charles Fourier are considered the forerunners of the Soviet communes and kolkhoz, the Mexican ejidos, and the Chinese communes,