In 1283, during the hudna between the Crusaders based in Acre and the Mamluk sultan al-Mansur Qalawun, this location was named el Harathiyah and was described as part of the domain of the Crusaders.
During the Ottoman era, a Muslim village at the site was named el Hâritheh. The village appeared as El Harti on the map of Pierre Jacotin compiled in 1799. In 1859, the population was recorded as 120 with tillable land of 12 feddans. In 1875, Victor Guérin reported about 40 houses. In 1882, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine described it as an adobe hamlet. A population list from about 1887 showed that Harithiyeh had about 120 inhabitants; all Muslims.
In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, the Al Zubaidat, who cultivated the Hartieh land, numbered 363, all Muslims. In 1925 a Zionist organisation purchased 50 feddans in Hartieh from the Sursock family of Beirut. At the time, there were 60 families living there. In the 1931 census, the Arab Zubeidat was counted under the Shefa-'Amr suburbs. From 1931, and lasting several years, the Jewish Agency struggled to evict the Arab El Zubeidat, who were tenant farmers at Hartiya. According to Avneri, Hartiya land was to become Sha'ar HaAmakim. According to the Department of Statistics, however, Sha'ar HaAmakim had previously been part of Sheikh Bureik. Kibbutz Sha'ar HaAmakim was founded in 1935 by immigrants from Romania and Yugoslavia. One of its founders was Aharon Cohen, later to be convicted of spying for the Soviet Union. Its name was derived from the nearby confluence of the Jezreel and Zevulun valleys. By the 1945 statistics it had a population of 360, all Jews.
State of Israel
Sha'ar HaAmakim hosted volunteers from around the world, including France and the United States, who worked at the kibbutz and participated in cultural exchanges. In the 1960s, there were up to 100 volunteers each year. Bernie Sanders, who later became a U.S. Senator, worked at the kibbutz for several months in 1963.
Economy
According to a 2016 report, the kibbutz derives most of its income from its solar water heater factory. It also makes money from agriculture, including dairy farming. For over five decades, the kibbutz has produced and processed sunflower seeds which it markets under its name both in Israel and for export. It also has a fish pond and orchards producing apples, peaches, and pears.
