Usyshkin Fortress

Menachem Usyshkin , chairman of the Jewish National Fund , was known for his exorbitant desire to perpetuate his name in the history of the country . In accordance with Usyshkin’s plan, in the Upper Galilee region near the northern border, settlements should have been established in which representatives of all factions of the Zionist movement lived. It was supposed to build six settlements for six communities ^[1] , ^[2] . Usyshkin demanded that all settlements be called "Usyshkin's fortresses" and differ only in numbers. However, the inhabitants themselves refused this, preferring to give their settlements other, historical names, for example, Daphne and Dan ^[3] .

The memory of the original name that the settlements wanted to give was preserved only in the name “crossroads of fortresses” ( Hebrew צומת מצודות ) on the north-eastern outskirts of the city of Kiryat Shmona (intersection of highway 90 and highway 99 ).

On May 4 , 1939 , the first two settlements were created: the kibbutz Daphne, which belonged to the ha-Kibbutz-ha-Meuhad movement "(" Usyshkin Fortress No. 1 "), and the kibbutz Dan, which belonged to the movement" ha-Kibbutz ha-Artsi ", (" Usyshkin Fortress No. 2 "). A day earlier, settlers belonging to the moshav movement , independently occupied lands that were designated as "Usyshkin Fortress No. 5", and which, they feared, might be taken away by competitors. For six months, until the conflict was resolved, they lived with other settlers, and, finally, in January 1940 they moved to "their" territory, where they created a "joint farm" and a settlement. The moshav movement adhered to a special point of view on the organization of agricultural production. Therefore, in the “Usyshkin Fortress No. 5”, not a kibbutz, that is, a commune, was created, but a collective farm (relatively speaking, a collective farm), in which only land and means of production were generalized, but not households. For this reason, “Usyshkin Fortress No. 5”, despite the name, was not always considered as such ^{[4] [5]} . In April 1941 , the inhabitants of this settlement renamed it Beit Hillel in honor of the famous doctor Hillel Jaffe .

In January-February 1940, "Usyshkin Fortress No. 3" was founded. The inhabitants of this settlement belonged to the Zionist youth movement . Currently, this settlement is called Shaar Yeshuv .

In October 1944, members of the Jerusalem religious Zionist organization Hapoel Ha-Mizrahi founded the moshav Nakhalim , which they called "Usyshkin Fortress No. 4". During the War of Independence, moshav Nahalim was evacuated to the center of the country. Later, Kibbutz Hashoshrim appeared in its place

After the Six Day War , the kibbutz Snir was organized here, at a place designated as "Usyshkin Fortress No. 6" , which was originally an army outpost of the Nahal brigade ^[6] .

The distribution of land between settlements has caused several conflicts. These conflicts were due to lack of land, as well as ideological differences between the settlers gathered in the same territory according to the plan of Usyshkin.

Even before the organization of settlements, representatives of the moshav movement stated that the promised land adjacent to the border, as well as water sources without their consent, were transferred to the kibbutzim Dan and Daphne. The movement stated that its members are thereby discriminated against because they are not considered pioneers . On the eve of the landing at the place of organization of the settlements, the leaders of the moshav movement, and, in particular, Shmuel Dayan , independently took the place where the settlement was supposed to be organized by the collective farm group . They explained this "landing" by the fact that the leadership tried to hide from them the exact date of settlement. To resolve the dispute, members of the collective farm group were divided between the kibbutzim Dan and Daphne. There they lived for six months, until a separate plot of land was allocated for them ^[7] .

Although in February 1942, members of the kibbutz Dan demanded the creation of new settlements in the area of ​​“Usyshkin fortresses” ^[8] , in mid- 1943 they opposed the organization of a settlement here, which should belong to the religious organization Irgun Yerushalaim while asserting that the land for the new settlement is an integral part of the land of the kibbutz Daphne, which even the available land is not enough to conduct a full-fledged economy. According to residents of existing settlements, an oral agreement was reached with members of the Jerusalem organization that they would abandon the settlement next to them ^[9] . Residents of existing settlements warned that if they attempt to penetrate their lands, they will take all protective measures and even put up armed resistance. Indeed, for several years, right up to the war of independence , they guarded their lands with weapons in their arms from encroachment.

Talmon, a Yemeni Jewish settlement organization, claimed that the land claimed by the Irgun Yerushalaim organization was promised to Talmon, since the original design of the Usyshkin citadel was to provide a place for all Jewish communities in it. The members of Talmon accused the leadership of the Jewish National Fund in every way that they delayed the organization of the Talmon settlement so that Irgun Yerushalaim could occupy the land that was not allocated to them ^[10] . In the end, the Talmon settlement was organized elsewhere and at a different time.

• Usyshkin, Menachem