Ramat HaKovesh


Ramat HaKovesh is a kibbutz in central Israel. Approximately 7 kilometers northeast of Kfar Saba and south-west of Tira. The kibbutz falls under the jurisdiction of Drom HaSharon Regional Council. In it had a population of.

Etymology

Ramat Hakovesh was named for "Hakovesh," the Jewish pioneering group that established the kibbutz, reflecting the Labor Zionist ideal of manual labor and the agricultural "conquest" of barren land.

History

Before the 20th century the area formed part of the Forest of Sharon. It was an open woodland dominated by Mount Tabor Oak, which extended from Kfar Yona in the north to Ra'anana in the south. The local Arabs used the area for pasture, firewood and intermittent cultivation. The intensification of settlement and agriculture in the coastal plain during the 19th century led to deforestation and subsequent environmental degradation.
The kibbutz was founded by Zionist youth from the Hashomer Hatzair and HeHalutz movements, including Jews from Wizna. A Vishnivean group of the HeHalutz movement immigrated to Mandate Palestine in 1926. They formed the nucleus of kibbutz "HaKovesh", which initially camped near Petah Tikva. In 1936, they moved to a parcel of land purchased from an Arab family where they engaged in farming despite years of ongoing sniping and violence.
On 16 November 1943 the British military searched the kibbutz for arms on the pretext of searching for deserters from the Polish Army, which was then stationed in Palestine.In the violent confrontation, a kibbutz member, Shmuel Wolynetz, was killed, 14 people were wounded, and 35 were arrested
In November 1945, following the Night of the Trains, a Palestine Police squad with dogs tried to break into the kibbutz. Upon orders from Jerusalem to withdraw, it was declared off-limits to British forces.

Economy

The kibbutz owns and operates Duram Rubber Products Company, a manufacturer of technical rubber products. Duram Mask A.C. Ltd., a subsidiary. manufactures the Duram Escape Mask, special emergency escape masks for personal use in situations of smoke, fire, chemical spill or chemical/biological terror attack.
Kibbutz Ramat Hakovesh operates a wedding and banquet hall, Pekan Garden.
PowerCom, a company based in Ramat Hakovesh, produces a remote monitoring system that collects data from solar systems and sends information to an online server that can be accessed from computers anywhere in the world.

Notable people