Ramat David Explained

Ramat David (he|רָמַת דָּוִד||David Heights) is a kibbutz in northern Israel.^[1] Located in the Jezreel Valley near Ramat David Airbase, it falls under the jurisdiction of Jezreel Valley Regional Council. In it had a population of .

History

The kibbutz was established in 1926, and was named after David Lloyd George, who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom when the Balfour Declaration was made. The German-Jewish architect Richard Kauffmann drew up plans for the design of Ramat David in 1931.^[2]

The British author Roald Dahl landed his RAF Hurricane at the British Mandate airstrip at Ramat David early in 1941.^[3] He describes the German Jewish refugee children living there at that time in his autobiography Going Solo.^[4]

On 22 May 1948 Egyptian planes attacked the airbase, damaging and destroying a number of British Royal Air Force planes.^[5]

Notable people

• Ze'ev Herring (1910–1988), politician who served as a member of the Knesset for the Alignment between 1969 and 1974
• Ruth Westheimer (1928–2024), sex therapist, talk show host, author, professor, Holocaust survivor, and former Haganah sniper^[6]
• Zvi Yanai (1935–2013), civil servant and author

Notes and References

1. News: Lungen . Paul . Israeli Irrigation Company to Be Listed on TSX . January 18, 2019 . . April 30, 2019.
2. Book: Burmil . Shmuel . Enis . Ruth . The Changing Landscape of a Utopia: The Landscape and Gardens of the Kibbutz, Past and Present . Wernersche . 2011 . 9783884622841.
3. News: Ashkenazi . Eli . From Roald Dahl to Ezer Weizman: Historic Air Force Building at Ramat David to Be Preserved . July 22, 2011 . . April 29, 2019.
4. Book: Dahl, Roald . Going Solo . 9780141965338 . 2012 . Penguin UK.
5. Michael Napier (2018) The Royal Air Force: A Centenary of Operations p167
6. https://www.haaretz.com/amp/science-and-health/.premium-the-chutzpah-that-made-dr-ruth-the-real-wonder-woman-1.7577627 The Chutzpah That Made Dr. Ruth the Real Wonder Woman