Natur, Golan Heights

Natur
Hebrew	נָטוּר
Founded	1980
Council	Golan Regional Council
Region	Golan Heights
District	North
Affiliation	Kibbutz Movement
Coordinates	32°51′12″N 35°45′13″E / 32.85333°N 35.75361°E / 32.85333; 35.75361Coordinates: 32°51′12″N 35°45′13″E / 32.85333°N 35.75361°E / 32.85333; 35.75361
Population	80 (2006)
Natur

Natur (Hebrew: נָטוּר‎‎) is an Israeli settlement, kibbutz, in the southern Golan Heights which lies in the municipal territory of the Golan Regional Council. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the Golan Heights illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.^[1]

Natur decided in 2007, after 27 years as a kibbutz, to become a moshav, and an interministerial committee allowed the kibbutz to become only the third in 100 years of the Kibbutz Movement to take such a step. Natur had not drawn new members, reaching only 30 at its height. The other two examples of kibbutzim becoming moshavim were in the 1950s and 1960s, when two religious kibbutzim, Bnei Darom and Massuot Yitzhak, became the more socialist form of moshavim, collective moshavim. Twenty-nine new families had already joined the 13 from the original kibbutz by 2007, and there were 90 adults and about 100 children. The kibbutz members will retain ownership of the dairy barn, chicken coops and orchards; but will give up ownership of much of the fields, which will be divided up among the new families.^[2]

See also

• Israeli-occupied territories
• Israeli settlement

References

1. ^ "The Geneva Convention". BBC. December 10, 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1682640.stm. 
2. ^ Ashkenazi, Eli, "Natur is third kibbutz in last 100 years to become moshav", Haaretz, December 25, 2007, accessed December 20, 2009