Neot Smadar

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Neot Smadar (Hebrew: נאות סמדר) is a kibbutz located in the Arava desert, in Israel, on the site of an older defunct kibbutz called Shizafon. It was founded in 1989 based on the principles of Jiddu Krishnamurti. Neot Smadar features 150 dunams of organically cultivated olive orchards. All kibbutz members and their children join in harvesting the olives manually. Olive oil is produced in a cold press set up with assistance from ICA and Israel's Ministry of Industry and Trade in 2001. The high-quality oil has been conferred the highest grade by Israel's Olive Council. Kibbutz members are building an Arts Center with 14 workshops in fields such as Stained glass, ceramics, textile, wood and metals. The unique "desert-facility" is insulated with mud bricks and features a desert cooling tower for "air conditioning". [1]