Zikim is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located in the northern Negev desert, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hof Ashkelon Regional Council. In, it had a population of.

History

For settlement history preceding the kibbutz, see Hiribya: History. Ancient discoveries in Zikim comprise a Greek graffito on the base of a high-quality plate dating from 144-160 BCE, and Greek inscriptions on Gazan jars from the 6th to early 7th century CE. The kibbutz was established in 1949 on land that had belonged to the depopulated Palestinian village of Hiribya, by a group of young Romanian Jews who belonged to Hashomer Hatzair before their arrival in Mandatory Palestine in 1947. At that time, Jewish settlement in the Negev was very sparse, and each new location was considered to be a "point of light" (zik) in the wilderness. Michael Har-Segor, later an Israeli historian, came up with the name while imprisoned in Romania for his activity in Hashomer Hatzair. He says he translated a quote from Pushkin into Hebrew: "From sparks shall come a flame." Zikim attracted members of Hashomer Hatzair from around the world, most recently from South America. British actor Bob Hoskins, although not Jewish, worked as a volunteer in Zikim in 1967. During the 1970s, the Shiqma Reservoir was established near the kibbutz. In the process a Late Neolithic archaeological site was bulldozed. In 2006, Palestinian Islamic Jihad fired a Qassam rocket from northern Gaza that hit a mattress factory in Zikim. In July 2014, five armed Palestinians attempted to cross into Israel via the beach at Kibbutz Zikim. They were killed by IDF gunfire. On 7 October 2023, as part of an attack on Israel, Hamas amphibiously assaulted the Zikim training base and Zikim kibbutz. Hamas killed 19 civilians, 8 soldiers and left dozens wounded on the beach. The remaining Hamas fighters from the beach were killed while attempting to enter the kibbutz. An emergency security team made up of civilians there had been alerted to the infiltration by the navy, and preemptively positioned themselves along a fence surrounding the kibbutz. A squad of six Hamas militants arrived at the kibbutz driving the Israeli military vehicle that had been abandoned on the beach. A firefight quickly ensued, and the militants dispersed, eventually being tracked down and killed after about an hour of combat. The security team remained at their positions until 2:30 the next morning, assisting in the evacuation of civilians and awaiting IDF reinforcements that never arrived.

Economy

The main crops are mango and avocado. Zikim also operates one of Israel's largest dairy farms. The main industrial product is polyurethane, produced by the kibbutz factory, Polyrit.

Notable people