Israel Studies Review

The profound transformation of the hityashvut ovedet (Labor Settlement) movement following the privatization processes of the late twentieth century has been extensively addressed in the literature. Most research has focused on the movement's organizational dimension, examining which practices the settlement continues to employ post-privatization. This introductory article seeks to expand this perspective by utilizing Erving Goffman's theory of ‘total institutions,’ which conceptualizes institutions as founded upon three pillars: organization, space, and community. This article points out that while the vast majority of kibbutzim and moshavim underwent an organizational privatization process, these settlements’ spatial and communal dimensions were transformed in varied ways. Consequently, in settlements that maintain geographical boundaries that distinguish them from their surroundings, and in those that have managed to preserve a unique sociocommunal mix, the moshav and kibbutz continue to sustain a distinct sociocultural way of life despite the organizational privatization.

Rural communities in Israel have historically been established by and affiliated with different national settling federations, often described together as “the labor settlement.” Yet the concept of a unified “rural space” with common characteristics and interests emerged only in the 1990s. Using qualitative methods of content analysis and semi-structured interviews, this article analyzes the symbolic aspects and meanings of this shift. It suggests that the rural space in Israel has been struggling with a “ruralization” process by which it becomes more similar to other rural spaces in the Global North, while seeking, at the same time, to preserve its unique nature, bolstered by past arrangements and legislation, through the reclaiming and reshaping of symbolic capital from the past.

The article addresses the two inherent tensions marking the history of the kibbutz and the vast research that deals with it: whether the origin of the kibbutz and its development should be viewed as products of ideological conceptions or rather as the result of historical circumstances; and should the kibbutz be viewed as a communal way of life, whose very existence is its goal, or rather as a means toward achieving national and social aims. Its main contentions are: the kibbutz emerged and developed because of circumstances as opposed to ideological principles; it reached the pinnacle of the national ethos because it served as a means for achieving national aims during periods of national emergency, and lost much of its prestige once the difficult times were over; the kibbutz posed an obstacle to the Zionist left. Finally, the article refers to these issues in light of 7 October 2023.

This article examines the implications of changes in agriculture over the years on identity and culture in the Arava, a desert region in southern Israel where intensive agriculture has long shaped both local society and the environment. Drawing on ethnographic research, this article traces how residents’ environmental–agricultural imagination historically structured space and community, and how agricultural infrastructures have adapted to political, ecological, and economic pressures. It examines how early settlers framed their efforts to “make the desert bloom,” while highlighting the constraints imposed by national politics, environmental limits, and global markets. By combining the concepts of environmental–agricultural imagination and agricultural infrastructure, the article analyzes agriculture's role in producing place and identity and considers how the spread of solar energy may reshape the spatial and social dynamics of arid regions.

Intergenerational succession is essential for the long-term survival of family farms in Israeli moshavim (cooperative villages). This article provides a theoretical framework for the analysis of optimal farm succession decisions and reviews empirical results showing that the survival and growth of family farms depend crucially on having a successful succession plan. Empirical results show that both farm investments and farm growth increased sharply upon the transfer of the farm to a successor. On dairy farms, the existence of a designated successor was associated with a higher tendency to invest and expand production and a lower tendency to stop producing. The actual succession was also a trigger to invest in farm infrastructure and equipment, and increase the level of production, thereby increasing the prospects of economic resilience and long-term farm survival.

This article examines how the war that erupted on 7 October temporarily reconfigured relationships between agricultural migrant workers and their employers in kibbutzim and moshavim along Israel's frontiers. Using qualitative analysis of media coverage and firsthand insights, this article investigates how the shared vulnerability of workers and employers during the war exposed deeper transformations in the agricultural sector. Specifically, it highlights how processes of state withdrawal and the gradual erosion of national ideals of Hebrew labor produced a system in which migrant workers are both indispensable and invisible. While the war briefly fostered crisis-driven solidarity between local employers, migrant workers, and civil society, this solidarity remained highly situational and conditional. These findings contribute to a broader understanding of the precarity produced by neoliberal restructuring in peripheral agricultural communities, specifically kibbutzim and moshavim.

This article critically examines the evolution of kibbutzim in Israel, focusing on the legal, economic, and social transformations that accompanied the shift from cooperative to renewed models. It analyzes the tax reforms implemented in 2003 and in 2017 and their implications for kibbutzim and their members. Drawing on historical data and legislative developments, the study highlights the tension between collectivist traditions and individual autonomy, offering recommendations for future tax policy that accounts for the unique national roles kibbutzim carry.

Jewish immigration from Latin America played a key role in kibbutzim during Israel's early years. Driven by Zionist youth movements, it was exceptional in scale and pioneering spirit in comparison with immigration from other Western countries. However, by the mid-1960s, global generational shifts, political and economic crises in Latin America, and the decline of Israel and the kibbutz movement's revolutionary ethos altered migration patterns. This shift deepened in the 1970s–1980s, when kibbutzim turned from absorbing permanent settlers into hosting Diaspora youth on short-term programs and temporary stays. These exhausted kibbutzim thus artificially inflated their populations, masking more profound demographic challenges. The study argues that this transition foreshadowed the kibbutzim's broader crisis from a demographic perspective—an aspect largely absent from research on immigration to kibbutzim and overlooked in studies on the kibbutzim's decline.

This article examines the evolving spatial structure of the Israeli kibbutz in response to social, ideological, and economic transformations. It explores how the original utopian design, rooted in modernist principles, sought to embody collectivist ideals and how, over time, privatization and neoliberal shifts have fragmented the once-cohesive space. Using historical analysis and contemporary case studies, this article highlights the growing mismatch between spatial organization and community needs. This discussion is particularly relevant in light of the October 2023 crisis, which necessitates the rehabilitation of kibbutzim and presents an opportunity to rethink their spatial and social frameworks. This article argues that a reimagined kibbutz space must balance continuity with adaptation, ensuring that communal life is preserved while addressing contemporary realities.