Historical background and early proposals The British
White Paper of 1939 and the
1940 Land Transfer Regulations placed a number of restrictions on Jewish settlement and land purchase in the
Mandate for Palestine. The
Negev desert was one of the areas where both were forbidden. On the other hand, World War II had broken out and the
Yishuv sought to broaden its areas of settlement in order to have greater capacity to house Jewish refugees from Europe. In general, the Yishuv, which was vehemently opposed to the White Paper, was interested in settling the Negev and conducting geological and hydrological surveys there. It also wished to test the British reaction to such a move. On April 29, 1942, a number of Yishuv notables, including
Arthur Rupin,
Eliezer Kaplan and
Yosef Weitz, toured the area to determine its adequacy for settlement. While Rupin and Kaplan proposed creating a number of agricultural settlements in the area, Weitz rejected the idea and recommended the construction of three outposts—in the areas of
Rafah,
Beersheba and
Bir 'Asluj—that would each be located on a different type of soil and help determine the suitability of the surrounding area for agriculture and habitation. Weitz eventually proposed creating ten such outposts, that would each employ 10–12 workers living in a walled building. Eventually however, only three outposts were created, as per Weitz's original recommendation.
Land purchase The land purchases in the Negev were made by the
Jewish National Fund (JNF), operating as the Tzukerman Office, a private real estate company secretly affiliated with the JNF. If required to purchase land from Arabs (after 1940), the office would recruit Arabs who had allied themselves with the Yishuv, to circumvent the British ban. The land was mostly purchased from
Negev Bedouin, who were usually not nationalistically motivated and more interested in the financial aspect. The JNF also set out to buy Jewish-owned land in the region, which was mostly unused. In 1936, this totalled 41,000
dunams (41 km2). Another policy was to consolidate the lands as much as possible and buy adjacent lots, in order to be able to settle the land later. In 1943, Weitz ordered Yoav Tzukerman to buy lands near Rafah/
Khan Younis, in Wadi Shiniq (
HaBesor Stream), and near 'Asluj and Beersheba. Lands were bought, but at the time the Bedouins in the area were enjoying relative prosperity and were less willing to sell. This significantly hurt the settlement plan for
Gvulot, which called for the purchase of 5,000–6,000 dunams (5–6 km2).
Founding The first settlement, Mitzpe Gvulot (today simply Gvulot) was established on May 12, 1943. The first squad numbered 12 people who came with a truck, four tents and a tractor. The group consisted of native Jews and a number of immigrants from Bulgaria from the Kibbutz
HaShomer HaTzair Gimel organization. Most of those who planned to settle in Gvulot stayed in
Rishon LeZion, and the lookout was managed from the
moshava Beit Gan in the north of the country. Revivim was founded on July 28, 1943, by the organization
HaNoar HaOved VeHaLomed, and originally named Tel Tzofim. Three members came three months earlier, but were driven out by the British. On July 28, six people came to the site and started construction, soon joined by another six. Beit Eshel's first residents arrived on August 9, 1943—four people with a tractor and two tents. An additional 36 people joined them later. The residents were immigrants from Austria and Germany, later joined by immigrants from Romania and native Jews. The group was called HaYogev (,
lit. The Farmer) and were planning to set up a
moshav. However, they were unable to do so due to lack of resources, and therefore organized as a
kibbutz instead. Many of the early settlers, unable to adjust to the intense heat during the day, freezing temperatures at night, and plagues of mosquitoes, packed up and left. Those who remained built uniform settlements consisting of a square courtyard surrounded by walls, a watchtower, living quarters and service buildings.
Logistics Water supply In the beginning, Gvulot got its water from nearby Arab villages. The price was 1 Palestine pound for 1 cubic meter, very high for the time. The cost of transport (done with a mule cart) was also high. In light of that, great effort was made to find an independent water source in the area. The first well, dug on July 21, 1943, turned up highly saline water. Five additional digs were made in 1943–1944, but turned out unsatisfactory. Tar-covered water collection ditches were also attempted, and helped ease the situation, but much water seeped through them into the ground, and additional filters had to be installed to make the water suitable for drinking. Although suitable water was found in Beit Eshel, it was too deep to extract effectively at the time; water was purchased from
Beersheba. Only after World War II was Beit Eshel able to acquire a suitable pump. Eight wells were dug in Beit Eshel in total, two of them successful (another one was further east and saved for later). Mini-dams were built in the wadis around Beit Eshel for irrigation. A larger dam was planned for the
Beersheba Stream, but nothing came of the project. In Revivim, a water well was purchased from the British administration, but its water was too saline. The workers then received free water from the British military base at Bir 'Asluj, until a new dig uncovered water at a depth of over 100 m and a tractor was modified to pump it out. A dam, the largest in the three lookouts at 1.2 m in height, was eventually built in Revivim. Three large reservoirs were also built in Revivim, with capacities of 40,000, 60,000 and 100,000 m3. They drained into the ground very quickly however. These projects represented the lion's share of the lookouts' expenditures, at over 70,000
Palestine pounds (compared to an annual budget of about 10,000 pounds for each lookout). By 1946, it had become clear that the three lookouts could not sustain an independent water supply. Also at that time, the Yishuv decided to create
11 additional settlements around the lookouts. In light of that, a decision was made that the water for these settlements would be provided by localities north of the Negev. However, budgets were also approved for additional wells and experiments in the existing villages.
Contact with the outside world Beit Eshel's close proximity to
Beersheba allowed it to receive superior communication services, such as a regular postal service (the letters were delivered to Beersheba) and a telephone line. The other lookouts communicated only through a pirate radio with the rest of the lookouts and the
Haganah. Transportation of goods and people were done with the vehicles in the lookouts, which each had a van and sometimes a truck. When these were unavailable or could not be used, the residents of Revivim and Beit Eshel relied on outside means—British vehicles traveling to and from the base at 'Asluj and public transport between Gaza and Beersheba, respectively. Gvulot was more isolated and while attempts were made to create a dirt road to
Khan Yunis, in the end the residents had to take the route through
Rafah. In rainy months, the lookouts were isolated in terms of transportation, especially Gvulot.
Relations with non-Jewish elements The British Mandate authorities were ambivalent towards the founding of the lookouts. On the one hand, the Yishuv broke Mandatory law not just with the land purchases, but also with illegally holding weapons and operating illegal radios. On the other hand, there was no reason not to allow the Jews to attempt permanent settlement in the Negev, which was rare due to the
Negev Bedouin's nomadic lifestyle. The local authorities took either a pro-Zionist or anti-Zionist stand depending on who headed them. The relationship with the British military were generally warm, especially in Revivim where some of the residents worked in the British base in 'Asluj and the British protected the area to prevent theft. Relations with the Bedouin were also mostly positive. The lookouts were in constant contact with the sheiks of the
Azzazma and
Tarabin tribes that ruled the area. Gvulot employed eight Bedouin guards. While economic ties were limited, the lookouts made an effort to keep warm social ties. Each lookout appointed a
Mukhtar and kept Bedouin hospitality traditions. By contrast, relations with the
fellaheen of the area were limited to negligible.
Construction and development in 1943–1948 Other than the
agricultural work, the lookouts' managers sought to create additional employment. In Beit Eshel, many of the residents were forced to move to
Ness Ziona due to lack of jobs. Several factories were therefore built in the village, including a wool processing plant, a tin plant and a factory that manufactured construction materials. A
cannery was built in Revivim. Gvulot planned to build a diamond processing plant, but the relevant equipment was destroyed in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Little non-agricultural development occurred during these years outside Beit Eshel. While Gvulot and Revivim each had over 100 members, only a few actually lived on the sites—12–14 in Gvulot and about 25 in Revivim. Despite this, the vast majority of these residents worked in the lookouts, something uncommon at the time. The residential areas of the lookouts were built as a castle—a two-floor stone building serving as a tower, with a 35 m2 courtyard surrounded by a stone wall. The tower served as the living quarters for up to 25 people, and the lookouts were encouraged not to build living quarters anywhere else for security reasons. However, this was disregarded in Beit Eshel as the need for additional living space arose. By 1947, security considerations trumped all others in plans for new constructions, not just in the lookouts, but also in most other settlements in the Negev.
1948 Arab–Israeli War The first attack on one of the lookouts came in the
civil war stage, on December 16, 1947, when local Bedouin attacked a vehicle between
Halutza and Revivim. The British forces in the area refused to intervene. During the
1948 Arab–Israeli War, beginning with an attack on May 17, 1948 by the
Muslim Brotherhood, Beit Eshel was besieged by Egyptian forces and destroyed. When Beersheba was captured by the
Israel Defense Forces in the
Battle of Beersheba in 1948, the site was abandoned. Its inhabitants moved to the Jezreel Valley, establishing Moshav
HaYogev. ==Geography==