Founded in 1946 as a Negev outpost, Kibbutz Be’eri suffered more than 130 murders and 32 kidnappings on 7 October 2023; most damaged homes are being demolished while one is preserved as a memorial.

Reconstruction costing $150 million, guided by trauma-informed design and supported by government and philanthropic partners including JNF-USA and KKL, has restored printing operations, added new housing and community facilities, and still requires about $12 million for safe-room upgrades and other projects.

Families are scheduled to return by 31 July 2027, with 50 babies born since the attack and new agricultural enterprises underscoring the community’s commitment to rebuilding and choosing life.

Mourning what they lost but choosing life and rebuilding for today and generations to come  

Kibbutz Be’eri was founded as one of the historic “eleven points” remote outposts established at the close of Yom Kippur 1946, to create Jewish communities in the Negev Desert for the future state of Israel. There were no roads, no water, only rocks and sand. The region typically gets one-sixth the annual rainfall of Arizona deserts!

Over ensuing decades, pipelines carried freshwater from deep groundwater wells and Lake Kinneret (the Sea of Galilee) and later desalinated water from the Mediterranean; drainage basins and dams brought winter rainfall runoff to reservoirs; and more recent pipelines carry local and urban recycled water for agriculture. Today, desalinated water even replenishes the Kinneret!

Tel Aviv’s Shimon Peres Center for Peace and Innovation displays these and scores of other inventions via informative presentations that utilize virtual reality headgear, videos and interactive activities.

Be’eri is home to 1,200 people and anchors the Eshkol Region. A printing and fintech company employs 600, while farmers raise cattle, potatoes, peanuts, mangos, wheat, jojoba for oil and skin care products, and more.

For two decades, Be’eri and all other communities east of Gaza endured often daily rocket attacks. People had 15 seconds to reach safety. The physical dangers and psychological trauma impacted humans and animals alike. Families slept in home bomb shelters/safe rooms........

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