Nahal Oz


Nahal Oz is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located in the northwestern part of the Negev desert close to the border with the Gaza Strip and near the development towns of Sderot and Netivot, it falls under the jurisdiction of Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council. In it had a population of.

History

The kibbutz was founded in 1951 as the country's first Nahal settlement. It was initially referred to as Nahlayim Mul Aza. In 1953 it became a civilian community.
Nahal Oz came to national attention in April 1956 when its security officer Ro'i Rothberg was ambushed and killed by infiltrators from Gaza. Rutenberg's funeral was attended by Moshe Dayan, then Chief of Staff, who gave a widely acclaimed eulogy which called upon Israel to search its soul and probe the national mindset.
Privatization of the kibbutz began in 1997.
After the 2006 Lebanon War, Israeli novelist David Grossman, who lost his son in the war, delivered a eulogy that was widely compared to Dayan's eulogy for Rutenberg. On 22 August 2014 during Operation Protective Edge, four-year-old resident of the kibbutz Daniel Tregerman was killed by mortar fire from the Gaza Strip.

Economy

The kibbutz's agriculture is based on crop growing, a dairy and chickens. It also has a factory for producing nuts and bolts, as well as a high-tech firm.