The Israeli Negev Desert is captivating. For many, it is a place where the presence of God in the Holy Land feels even more immediate. While deserts are expanding worldwide, Israel is making its deserts bloom. The fact that more and more thriving towns are springing up on the edge of the Negev, amidst its rugged, rocky landscapes, is almost incomprehensible.
As I step out of our desert quarters in Jerocham this morning, I notice a thin gray coating on our car. Perhaps construction dust? But upon closer inspection, I see that the car roof is covered in millions of tiny water droplets. In the middle of the bone-dry desert, God is fulfilling his promise:
“I will be like the dew to Israel, so that it blossoms like a lily and its roots spread like Lebanon.”
Hosea 14:6
The story of the visionaries who wanted to see it bloom is as fascinating as the desert itself.
In 1937, the Peel Commission issued a recommendation for a two-state solution. This proposed a Jewish state without the Negev, as explained by the open-air museum "Mitzpe Revivim," located about a half-hour drive south of the city of Be'er Sheva. Subsequently, a group of settler pioneers from Rishon LeZion developed a unique plan to make the desert habitable at the site of present-day Kibbutz Revivim. The water that flooded the hard desert soil during the winter torrential rains was to be collected in reservoirs and then gradually distributed to the newly established plantations for irrigation. It was a complex undertaking. Supplies initially had to be airlifted from the coast. The pioneers' first accommodation was an old Nabatean cave, which was later used as a field hospital during the War of Independence.
In 1947, shortly before the UN vote that paved the way for the establishment of the state, a UNESCO delegation visited Revivim. An information panel at the open-air museum records the following: “It was a beautiful, cool day when the UN delegation arrived in Revivim, and to our surprise, thanks to irrigation, the gladioli were all in bloom at once. On the last day, a color photograph of the gladiolan field appeared in the English-language Palestine Post, which impressed both the journalists and the UNESCO committee. Some even believe that the decision to include the Negev within the borders of the Jewish state to be created was due to the gladioli and the visit to Revivim.”
Israel's founding father David Ben-Gurion, who passionately believed in the revival of the Negev, is quoted in the exhibition as saying: "We must give the Negev what it needs most: people."
Today, this dream has come true in many places – for example, in Kibbutz Be'eri, where two young families from Ukraine recently arrived and are being integrated into the intensive "First Home in the Homeland" program. They don't want to go anywhere else. Here, and in many other kibbutzim, Ukrainian and Russian newcomers are taking their first steps side by side in their old-new homeland and learning together how to live the Israeli dream.
This article first appeared in our newspaper "Israelaktuell," issue 132. You can order the newspaper free of charge here. We would also be happy to send you several copies for distribution.
