Nahal settlement

File:Symbol for Nahal Brigade.gif

Symbol of the modern-day Nahal Brigade of the Israel Defense Forces

Nahal Yam settlement in Sinai, 1969. Dan Hadani collection, National Library of Israel.

Two Israeli women with their livestock in Nahal Yam, a Nahal settlement in the Israeli-occupied Sinai Peninsula, 1969 (National Library of Israel)

Nahal settlements (Template:Langx) were Israeli settlements established by Israeli soldiers of Nahal in both Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories.

Supporting the growth and expansion of Israeli Jews was once the main focus of Nahal troops of the Israel Defense Forces and was primarily carried out through the program. The goal of Nahal settlement was to provide a base of operations and resources for Israeli troops along the border.

This method of encouraging settlement was particularly effective in regions of Israel that were less desirable for human inhabitation (mainly the Negev, the Galilee, and the Aravah) between 1948 and 1967. After the 1967 Arab–Israeli War, Nahal settlements were established in the newly Israeli-occupied territories (the Jordanian-annexed West Bank and the Egyptian-occupied Gaza Strip, and the Syrian Golan Heights and the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula) in pursuit of similar goals.

The first such settlement was Nahal Oz, located in the northwestern Negev in Israel, near the Gaza–Israel border.

See also

• Category:Nahal settlements