Kibbutz neighborhoods and new communities: The development of a sense of belonging among the residents of new community neighborhoods on Kibbutzim

The fact that residents of the expansion neighborhoods are inhabitants of the kibbutz with permanent homes has created a novel situation for the kibbutz, which must somehow integrate residents who are not members. This chapter deals with that process and with the organizational and social obstacles that affect the formation of connections and a sense of partnership between the kibbutz and its expansion neighborhoods. It describes the stages of partnership construction between the existing kibbutz and the expansion neighborhoods and discusses the processes experienced by the new residents and by those who are integrating them into the kibbutz. The occupants of community expansions live in agricultural areas, build their houses adjacent to the kibbutz, and become settlement residents. The Ministry of Agriculture prepared plans for the rehabilitation of rural settlements enabling people to live in agricultural settlements without purchasing a farm and without working in agriculture.