Kfar Yona - History and Etymology

History and Etymology

Kfar Yona (meaning Yona's village) is named after Jean (Yona) Fischer, a Belgian Zionist. It was founded on Tu Bishvat, January 23, 1932 by Morris Fischer, Yona's son, a member of the World Jewish Congress, and was originally named Gan Yona ("Yona's Garden").

Yona and his best friend were in Europe during the time that nationalism was gaining political movement, for all ethnicities. They decided to fundraise and found a settlement in the Holy Land, to promote Zionism. This endeavor took a number of years, and they included Morris when he was old enough. Because Yona died just a few years short of seeing fruition of the dream, Morris and his father's friend decided to name the settlement after Yona.

Yona is Hebrew for dove (besides being the Hebrew form of Jonah), so while the town searches for new symbols, especially among school-age children in its quest to build up community feelings from a young age, the dove is a frequently used symbol.

In the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Kfar Yona was on the front lines, and its defenders faced the Iraqi Army, which sought to reach Netanya and cut the Jewish forces in Israel in half. The new Israel Defense Forces repelled the Iraqi attacks and forced them back into the Samarian mountains, although Kfar Yona remained the easternmost Jewish settlement in the area. As a result of the 1949 Armistice Agreements, the border moved from Kfar Yona 8 km eastrward, to just west of Tulkarm.