Yesod HaMa'ala
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| Yesod HaMa'ala | |
| Hebrew | יסוד המעלה |
| Government | Local council |
| District | North |
| Population | 1,200 (2004) |
| Jurisdiction | 12,000 dunams (12 km²) |
Yesod HaMa'ala is the first modern Jewish community in the Hula Valley. Built in 1883, the community was among a series of agricultural settlements founded during the First Aliyah. This was a period of increased Jewish immigration to Israel between 1882 and 1904. At the time, the Hulah Valley was comprised mostly of swampland and the 15,000 acres (61 km²) shallow Lake Hula. The region was a well-known breeding ground for mosquitoes, and as a result concerns about malaria restricted further Jewish settlement in the region for fifty years.
In the 1920s, with improved drainage technology and pesticide use, the settlement of the Hulah Valley increased. To defend themselves against Arab attacks, the communities organized militias, most notably HaShomer. After securing the valley in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the state of Israel set up an ambitious program in 1951 to expand agricultural land in the region by draining Lake Hulah and the swamp around it. Considering the valley to be a unique ecosystem and an important resting place for migrating birds, scientists lobbied for a small portion of the swamp to remain as a nature reserve. In 1964, the 800 acre (3.2 km²) Hula Valley Nature Reserve, the country's first, was opened.
With the activation of the National Water Carrier in 1964, Syrian efforts to disrupt drainage patterns into the Sea of Galilee were accompanied by attacks against Israeli farming and fishing activities in the region. Three years later, Syrian forces were repelled further from Yesod HaMa'ala with the capture of the Golan Heights during the 1967 Six-Day War.
On 22 July 2006, a series of Katyusha attacks by Hezbollah struck communities in the Hulah Valley during the course of the 2006 Lebanon War. In Yesod Hama’ala, one person was lightly wounded from rocket shrapnel. Prior to the bombings, the community has not seen any hostile attacks since the Six-Day War in 1967. On 29 July three rockets hit Yesod HaMa'ala, lightly wounding a woman and damaging property.
Yesod HaMa'ala is home to the Dubrovin Estate. This museum commemorates the founders of the community, containing personal possessions and furniture from 19th century Russia, where most of the founders lived prior to Israel. Part of the museum includes ruins of a synagogue dating between the 4th and 6th centuries, highlighting the historic Jewish claim to the region.
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