Gesher HaZiv
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Gesher HaZiv גֶּשֶׁר הַזִּיו |
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 Gesher HaZiv
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| Coordinates: 33°2′20.4″N 35°6′40.67″E / 33.039000°N 35.1112972°ECoordinates: 33°2′20.4″N 35°6′40.67″E / 33.039000°N 35.1112972°E | |
| District | Northern |
| Council | Mateh Asher |
| Affiliation | Kibbutz Movement |
| Founded | 1949 |
| Founded by | Immigrants from North American Habonim and former members of kibbutz Beit HaArava |
| Population (2015) | 1,605 |
| Name meaning | Bridge of Splendor |
| Website | www.gesher-haziv.org.il |
Gesher HaZiv (Hebrew: גֶּשֶׁר הַזִּיו, lit. Bridge of Splendor) is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Situated in the Western Galilee on the coastal highway between Nahariya and the Lebanese border, opposite the Akhziv National Park, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Asher Regional Council. In 2015 it had a population of 1,605.
The kibbutz was founded in 1948 by two groups: 120 people from the first immigrants' gar'in of the Habonim Labor Zionist youth movement of North America, and half of the former members of kibbutz Beit HaArava, evacuated on 20 May, 1948 during the then-ongoing War of Independence. It is named in memory of the 14 Palmach members who were killed during the 1946 Night of the Bridges, and in relation to the ancient Phoenician and Arab village of Achziv whose nearby remains are part of a national park by the sea – Achziv means disappointment, so the first core of "Chalutzim" (pioneers) decided to name the new settlement, just the opposite, as "joy", in spite of the failed 1946 operation as well as their own disappointment created by the recent evacuation from Beit HaArava. The kibbutz quickly became an agricultural success after its founding.
In July 1998, Gesher HaZiv joined the vanguard of "privatization" in the kibbutz movement. Largely due to pressures caused by collective debts, the majority of the membership voted to adopt a policy of "differential income". Numerous economic branches were sold off, and many communal services were either shut down entirely or converted to a non-subsidized, pay-per-use basis.Kibbutz homes were parceled into separate lots and became the private property of each kibbutz family.
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