Kibbutz Nachal Oz is an agricultural community located only a few hundred yards away from Gaza. In the community's early days they enjoyed quiet, and friendliness from their neighbors. Over the last decades though, the situation turned violent, and now the community has to deal with close range rocket fire.
Established: 1951
Location: Northern Negev
Council: Shar HaNegev
Character: Secular
Population: 450
The Story
During Operation Protective Edge, in the summer of 2014, the community of Nachal Oz was hit hard – leading 17 families to immediately leave for good. At OR Movement, we immediately sprang into action – before the last rocket could even fall. We set out to help the small kibbutz recover, by marketing and recruiting new young families to join.
On May 23rd 2016, Kibbutz Nachal Oz held a formal ceremony to welcome 20 new families as members of the kibbutz. They are now even bigger than before the terror!
The work with Nachal Oz hasn't stopped – we're now working on student programs which will attract a new younger generation to strengthen the community even more.
