Ein Harod (Meuhad) - History

History

The kibbutz is located near the site of the battlefield of Ayn Jalut, where the Mongols were defeated in 1260.

In 1921, 35 young people from Gdud HaAvoda pitched tents at the Harod Spring. The group, led by Shlomo Levkovitch (Lavi), began to farm land which the Palestine Land Development Company had purchased from the Arab village of Nuris, in the eastern part of the Jezreel Valley.

In 1923, the group established a kibbutz named for the spring, which is mentioned in the Bible as a place of judge Gideon (Judges 7:1). In 1924, they were joined by members of the Havurat HaEmek group. In 1925, under the leadership of Yitzhak Tabenkin, Ein Harod became the center of countrywide kibbutz movement joined by members of Yagur, Ashdot Yaakov and Ayelet HaShahar, forming the basis of HaKibbutz HaMeuhad. Ein Harod became the organizational headquarters of the movement. In 1930, when the collective moved to a permanent location at the foot of Kumi Hill, the kibbutz had 239 members.

The kibbutz played an important role in the defense of the area during the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine. It was the base of Orde Wingate's Special Night Squads.

In 1945 the Haganah had a small prison there in which they detained members of the Irgun during the Saison.

In 1952, in the wake of an ideological split, Mapai supporters broke away to create Ein Harod (Ihud). Mapam supporters, who stayed on, took the name Ein Harod (Meuhad). When the ideological rivalry between the movements subsided and the United Kibbutz Movement was established in 1981, both kibbutzim joined. The first kibbutz movement haggadah was written at Ein Harod.