Bitzaron

Bitzaron combines an agricultural economy, historically centered on intensive citrus cultivation, with a founding history rooted in Zionist immigration from the Soviet Union.[1] It belongs to the Be’er Tuvia Regional Council.[3]

The moshav lies north of Gan Yavne, approximately 10 kilometers east of Ashdod.[4] It is situated alongside Route 3811, east of Highway 4.[5] Its official locality code is 0234, and it is classified as a moshav in the 2020 locality list.[6]

The locality is distinct from the Bitzaron neighborhood in Tel Aviv, which lies near Hashalom Road.[7]

Sources differ on the settlement’s early chronology: one dates its founding to 1931, while official records list its Jewish settlement year as 1935.[1][2] The 1935 records identify its former name as Kefar Bitzaron and describe its founders as a group of Prisoners of Zion from Russia.[2][5] Before their immigration, the pioneers had trained at a farm called Tel Hai in Crimea; Soviet authorities closed the farm, and the pioneers, who had been imprisoned as Zionists, were subsequently allowed to leave the Soviet Union.[1]

One of the founding group’s members chose the moshav’s name from Zechariah 9:12: “שובו לבצרון אסירי התקוה,” rendered as “Return to the stronghold, prisoners of hope.”[2][5] The name expressed the members’ continued hope of immigrating to and settling in the Land of Israel despite their experience as “prisoners of exile.”[2]

A later example of residential construction involved a 160-square-meter, single-story second home on a farm, on land available for residential building since 1935.[4] The project began with the hiring of a surveyor on August 1, 2006; plans were submitted on October 19, and a building permit was received on January 16, 2007.[4] The structural frame was completed on April 17, and the family moved in on July 25.[4] Sandy ground complicated foundation drilling, and the house ultimately required 25 piles.[4]

Bitzaron had a reported population of 822 in 2002.[1] A separate, undated population description gives approximately 1,200 residents, without specifying a census year for that figure.[5]

Agriculture in Bitzaron has been characterized by highly intensive cultivation, with citrus plantations as its principal branch.[1] Fruit and vegetable growing also featured in the work of local farmer Rani Bar-Ness, identified in 2023 as chairman of the fruit sector in the Be’er Tuvia Regional Council’s plants department.[3]

After the October 7 attacks, agricultural labor shortages brought volunteer assistance to farms in the south.[3] Bar-Ness described prospective volunteers asking whether his fields had protective shelters; they did not.[3] Farmers considered the volunteer assistance insufficient for the demanding agricultural work.[3]

The local grocery store, owned by Rafi Vaknin and Bat Sheva Ansper, sold food, vegetables, cleaning products, stationery, and toys.[8] In 2020, its owners said the business had been established 36 years earlier.[8] During the COVID-19 period, an employee was placed on unpaid leave, and family members and local teenagers helped staff the store.[8] The owners also prepared and delivered food parcels to older residents according to their requests.[8]

Bitzaron’s public remembrance garden contains a large lawn, trees, and other vegetation.[5] Its memorial is a tall, cone-shaped structure standing on a concrete platform.[5] Beneath the word “נזכור” (“We will remember”), black plaques list details of those commemorated.[5]