Israel - a stormy relationship: Kiwi kibbutzniks learn to ignore violence outside their door

By FRAN O'SULLIVAN

The slender Israeli soldier leans against the fence in the hot, late afternoon sun waiting for transport to get her back to the frontline.

"She's a Sabra," boasts proud father Paul Zelas, who moved to Kibbutz Yizrael from Christchurch with his brother Shimon in 1967.

"Sabra", the term for Jews born in Israel, is also the name of the Marvel Comics character who became a secret agent for Israel.

Meirav Zelas - a permanent member of the Israeli Defence Forces - is of a different mettle. But her father will not let her hitchhike alone. It is against Army rules. A soldier who thumbs a lift the next day is knifed.

Kibbutz Yizrael - just a few kilometres down a dusty road from the Arab city of Jenin - has been under 24-hour guard since the latest Intifada began. But there has not been a bombing close by "in at least a year" says 60-year-old Paul Zelas.

Israel's controversial wall, ruled illegal by the International Court of Justice, saves lives out here on the fertile Lower Galilean Valley. Unlike the solid wall which divides Jerusalem, near Jenin, it takes the form of an electric fence, with coils of barbed wire either side creating a dead zone. But it is just as effective at walling off the young suicide bombers and Jenin residents from the lush lowlands and agricultural centre of Arula.

Two years ago, Arula's farmers used to shop in Jenin. Jenin's residents used to work alongside Kibbutz Yizrael's members.

"It was good, but that's all gone," says Paul Zelas.

Many of the original suicide attackers came from Jenin, where suicide bombers marched freely through the open fields to deliver their deadly weapons.

An attack in a Haifa restaurant in which 23 died led Galilean residents to pressure Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for American money to put a fence in place to wall off the bombers.

"We were not sure about it at first," said Paul Zelas. "We used to be good neighbours before all this."

Kibbutz Yizrael, founded in 1948 by immigrants from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, still sticks to communal ways and shares resources among its 500-plus community; many kibbutzim have been "privatised" but at Kibbutz Yizrael income is still pooled, although the amount paid to a kibbutznik goes up with their length of membership.


Paul Zelas works in the kibbutz's almond orchards which are managed by former Wellingtonian Phil Adler.

Shimon Zelas, 59, is the brains behind Maytronics - a hi-tech company making electronic pool cleaning robots - which recently listed on the Israel Stock Exchange.

The "Dolphin" automatically sweeps the sides and floor of swimming pools, vacuums up debris, filters water and pumps in chemicals - its electronic sensors indicating when it should turn corners. It is a nifty - but expensive device - marketed in two sizes: home or Olympic-size pool.

The original technology was invented in South Africa - the kibbutz bought the patents. Shimon Zelas spent three years in the United States developing a market for the Dolphin. Maytronics raked in about 119 million shekels ($40 million) last year.

The kibbutz diversified into the high-tech industry when it became obvious it would not be able to support enough of its members from traditional agricultural earnings.

If Maytronics keeps its premier place in the robotic pool cleaner market, the kibbutz's finances will be set up for years to come. But Shimon Zelas says other players are emerging. It needs to stay competitive.

The kibbutz will earn about 10 million shekels annually in management fees and services. About 40 of Maytronics' 100 staff are kibbutzniks. The kibbutz received a $1.4 million special dividend when Maytronics was floated, retains 75 per cent of the company and will get a 25 per cent dividend each year.

"For socialists like us, it's next to poison," chuckled Paul Zelas.

The brothers came to Israel as part of worldwide tide of young Jewish people wanting to build a new nation. Among other New Zealand kibbutzniks are Aucklanders Peter and Judy Pezaro, whose daughter has just competed at the Paralympics.

The Kiwi kibbutzniks are thousands of kilometres from their original homeland. But they have taken one tradition with them: rugby.

Kibbutz Yizrael was second in Israel's national championships this year. The previous two years it was first.

On Sunday, the second time in less than a week, Israeli forces, backed by 40 tanks, again raided Jenin.

Paul Zelas says: "We're learning to ignore the violence ... It will get better again."

* Fran O'Sullivan visited Kibbutz Yizrael as a guest of the New Zealand-Israel Trade delegation