Sha'al

Sha'al is situated in the northern Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in 1967 and to which it applied Israeli law in December 1981.[5] An Encyclopedia.com population table lists the settlement under the Golan Regional Council.[1] In 2022, a planning committee approved the proposed community of Matar for a site about one kilometer south of Sha'al.[6]

The political status of the Golan Heights is a matter of international dispute. Israeli sovereignty over the territory is not recognized by the broad international community, which generally considers the Golan Heights to be Syrian territory. The United States recognized Israeli sovereignty over the area in 2019.[7]

Sources differ slightly on Sha'al's exact founding year: the Encyclopedia.com population table lists 1976,[1] while a 2003 Globes report stated that the moshav was established in 1979.[2] Shimon Malul arrived in the Golan in 1979 as a Nahal member and stayed to build a family there.[4]

By 2003, a community expansion had been underway for about five years, with one unit remaining available.[2] Each new resident was offered a 60-square-meter house on a 500-square-meter plot, with the option to double the house's area.[2] A 2019 report recorded the sale of a 1.5-dunam parcel for 119,000 shekels as the settlement's only reported residential transaction; no transactions involving homes, building land, or agricultural land had been reported to the Tax Authority.[3]

In 2003, Sha'al comprised 56 households: 32 families associated with the agricultural settlement and 24 with its community expansion.[2] The Encyclopedia.com population table recorded 230 inhabitants as of December 31, 2004,[1] while a 2019 Globes report gave a population of 255.[3]

Sha'al's economy has included poultry houses, cattle, deciduous fruit cultivation, and agricultural tourism.[2] Fruit growing and farm tourism have become particularly visible parts of the local economy.

Shimon Malul and his son Yehuda operate Malul Farm.[4] A 2025 report said Shimon had planted its cherry orchards and fruit vines decades earlier.[8] The farm offers self-picking of cherries, raspberries, and mulberries, together with a family-run café housed in a mud structure.[4] It also rents tents to visitors.[8] Varieties grown include Bing, Rainier, Sweetheart, and Stella cherries, as well as Afghanistan mulberries.[8] The Golan's roughly six-week cherry season is a staple of the farm's annual business.[8] Shimon Malul explained the turn toward agricultural tourism: "Following the crisis in agriculture, we decided to pursue agricultural tourism, and that is how the picking was born."[4]

Levy Farm, located on Road 978 just north of Sha'al, adds to the area's agritourism offerings. Run by Roni and Tiki Levy and their family, it features fruit-picking, camping grounds with tents and cabins, a petting zoo, barbecue pits, and a bonfire area. Its produce includes Chinese mulberries, Goumi berries, Pakistan mulberries, red currants, European gooseberries, blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries.[9]

Tel Winery, situated at the foot of Tel Shiban near Sha'al, was established in 2019 and specializes in varietal wines produced from single-variety vineyards. It uses grapes grown at elevations of 750 to 1,070 meters across the northern Golan Heights.[10]

Sha'al also has a modest visitor infrastructure. A Jerusalem Post travel article described wood-lodge accommodation and a facility with a spa, Jacuzzi, sauna, massage services, and a small art gallery. Teepee-style lodging was also noted.[11]

Following the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, the northern Golan Heights experienced sustained rocket, missile, and drone fire from Hezbollah. Sha'al went without tourist visitors for approximately a year and a half, although the moshav itself was not struck by projectiles.[8] The report also said that the Iran-Israel conflict interrupted the Malul farm's berry-picking season.[8]

The account was published in July 2025 and describes conditions during the preceding year and a half rather than current conditions.[8]