Ottoman rule In 1905, the Anglo Palestine Bank purchased of land from the Saidun tribe for a Jewish settlement near the
Jaffa–Jerusalem railway. Ownership of the land was transferred to the
Jewish National Fund which turned it over to the of the
Zionist Organization (ZO). In 1909, the Hulda farm was established and a building (today Herzl House) was constructed to house the manager of the farm and was later used by the kibbutz members.
British Mandate Groups of pioneers who trained at the Hulda farm helped establish
Ein Harod (1921),
Kfar Yehezkel (1921),
Ginegar (1922) and other
kibbutzim. During the
1929 Palestine riots, the farm was attacked and destroyed. British forces ordered the evacuation of the settlers, but barred them from taking the body of Ephraim Chizik, the
Haganah commander who was killed in battle. In 1931, the
Gordonia pioneer group resettled Hulda. The farm suffered several more attacks during the
1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine. On 31 March a convoy of the
Harel Brigade left Hulda to deliver supplies to Jerusalem. The convoy was attacked by Arab forces from
Ramla, killing twenty-two passengers.
1948 Arab–Israeli War During the
1948 Arab–Israeli War it served as the headquarters of the
Palmach's
Yiftach Brigade and a base for
convoys bringing supplies to
Jerusalem. ==Economy==