THE KIBBUTZ THAT WAS – WHAT IS LEFT FROM THE ORIGINAL CONCEPT

The aim of this article is to analyze the meaning of the ideological, social and financial crises undergone by the Kibbutz Movement in Israel, which has existed for the past one hundred years. The paper will discuss in detail the values of cooperation, democracy and equality that were the guiding principles of the Kibbutz Movement for dozens of years. The difficult economic reality forced upon the entire State of Israel during the 1980s did not pass over the Kibbutz Movement, which consists approximately 1.7% of the population of the State of Israel and approximately 2.2% of the Jewish population in Israel. This crisis compelled the Kibbutz Movement to make internal administrative and organizational changes in order to survive it. The paper will describe the measures taken in the mechanism that was sealed and preserved for dozens of years on many levels – administrative, social and economic; a mechanism that required a drastic transition from being based on agriculture to industry and production, all while preserving the Kibbutz way of life and core values