Beit Yehoshua
Beit Yehoshua
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Village office | |
| Etymology: House of Yehoshua | |
Beit Yehoshua Beit Yehoshua | |
| Coordinates: 32°15′40″N 34°51′47″E / 32.26111°N 34.86306°E | |
| Country | Israel |
| District | Central |
| Council | Hof HaSharon |
| Affiliation | HaOved HaTzioni |
| Founded | 17 August 1938 |
| Founded by | Akiva and HaNoar HaTzioni members |
| Population (2023)[1] | 1,072 |
| Website | www |
Beit Yehoshua (Hebrew: בֵּית יְהוֹשֻעַ, lit. 'House of Yehoshua') is a moshav in central Israel. Located in the coastal plain near Netanya, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hof HaSharon Regional Council. In 2023 it had a population of 1,072.[1] The Beit Yehoshua Railway Station is adjacent to the moshav.
History
The region of Beit Yehoshua lies in the southern Sharon plain, an area inhabited intermittently since the prehistoric period, with peak phases of settlement during the Byzantine (4th–7th centuries CE) and Late Ottoman periods (19th–early 20th centuries).[2] Prior to the 20th century it was part of the extensive Forest of Sharon and of the agricultural lands of the Palestinian village of Ghabat Kafr Sur. The landscape was dominated by Mount Tabor oak and used by local Arab inhabitants for pasture, seasonal cultivation, and firewood.[3] Increasing cultivation and settlement in the 19th century led to deforestation and land degradation.
Beit Yehoshua was established on 17 August 1938 as a tower and stockade settlement by a gar'in of the Akiva and HaNoar HaTzioni youth movements.[4] According to the Jewish National Fund, the original settlers were mainly Orthodox Zionists and focused on intensive agriculture, especially citrus orchards and dairy farming.[4] The community was named after Yehoshua (Ozjasz) Thon, a Galician Zionist leader, rabbi, and member of the Polish Sejm.[4]
In 1947, on the eve of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Beit Yehoshua had a population of about 150.[4] After the establishment of the State of Israel, it transitioned in 1950 from a kibbutz to a moshav shitufi, and later to a moshav ovdim, reflecting broader postwar reorganizations of collective settlements.[5]
The moshav is located partly on the former lands of Ghabat Kafr Sur and adjacent to areas linked historically to other depopulated Palestinian villages in the Sharon.[6]
Economy
Agriculture remained the backbone of Beit Yehoshua for decades, with citrus groves, poultry, and dairy production.[4] From the late 20th century the moshav diversified, with residents employed in nearby urban centers such as Netanya and Tel Aviv, while parts of its lands were developed for housing and industry in cooperation with the Hof HaSharon Regional Council.[7]
Transportation
Beit Yehoshua is served by the Beit Yehoshua railway station, opened in 1953, which connects the moshav to the Tel Aviv–Haifa coastal line.[8]
Historic images
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Beit Yehoshua 1939
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Beit Yehoshua 1944 1:20,000 (lower right quadrant)
References
- ^ a b "Regional Statistics". Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 11 August 2025.
- ^ Marom, Roy (2008). From Time Immemorial: Chapters in the History of Even Yehuda and its Region in Light of Historical and Archaeological Research.
- ^ Marom, Roy (2022-12-01). "The Oak Forest of the Sharon (al-Ghaba) in the Ottoman Period: New Insights from Historical-Geographical Studies". Muse. 5: 90–107.
- ^ a b c d e Jewish National Fund (1949). Jewish Villages in Israel. Jerusalem: Hamadpis Liphshitz Press. pp. 22–23.
- ^ Near, Henry (1997). The Kibbutz Movement: A History, Vol. 2. Oxford University Press. pp. 150–152. ISBN 9780198279952.
- ^ Khalidi, Walid (1992). All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948. Washington D.C.: Institute for Palestine Studies. pp. 567–568. ISBN 0-88728-224-5.
- ^ Rosner, Menachem (2012). Privatization of the Kibbutz. Transaction Publishers. pp. 93–95. ISBN 9781412846165.
- ^ "Israel Railways: Beit Yehoshua Station". Israel Railways. Retrieved 2025-09-05.