Israel is a society with a considerable tradition of social planning and centralized decision making. The government, consequently, was in a position to undertake far-reaching decisions concerning population redistribution. The instrument to accomplish population redistribution was to be a network of small and medium sized urban settlements,…

This paper summarizes the history of rural communities (moshavim and kibbutzim) in Israel and attempts to rehabilitate those that have experienced difficulties. The first section of the paper outlines the context of these communities, most of which are cooperatives. Before the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, most of the communities…