BEN SHEMEN ("HERZL") FOREST

Ben Shemen Forest, courtesy, Wikimedia Commons

The Ben Shemen, also known as the “Herzl”, Forest, is the largest forest in the Tel Aviv region (at 22,000 dunams), located in the Central District, approximately 16 miles to the southeast of Tel Aviv. It is adjacent to Mexico Park and about half a mile east of the moshav Ben Shemen. Today, this area is maintained by the Jewish National Fund with help of their branches in the United States, Canada, and South America.

In Biblical times, this area was allotted to the tribe of Ephraim. After the Roman destruction of Jerusalem and under the subsequent rule of foreign empires, the area that the forest now covers, as well as much of the country in general, became denuded of any plant vegetation. It wasn’t until the late 19^th century that efforts by Jews to re-afforest the countryside began. The first people to recognize the importance, specifically of the land that is now the Ben Shemen area, were Eliahu Sapir and Yehoshua Hankin in 1904. This area was acquired the next year and in 1907, it came under the authority of the Jewish National Fund (est. 1901). That year, the first major re-afforestation project in Israel began. This became the Ben Shemen Forest, sometimes referred to, by the locals, as the “Herzl” Forest, after the founder of the Zionist movement who envisioned a green countryside for the Land of Israel.

There were fierce battles in the area during the War of Independence and the entire region was under siege. One notable battle that took place locally was at the site known as Post 219. On April 29, 1949, this site was attacked by a large force of Arabs. Twenty-three Israeli soldiers were killed, and the others retreated. Reinforcements arrived that night and re-conquered the post. The nearby city of Lod was also conquered, thus, securing the area for Israel. After the war and throughout the 1950s, the Jewish National Fund increased foresting activities thanks to the manpower of new immigrants who settled in the newly-established surrounding communities such as Gimzo, Kfar Daniel, Beit Arif and Beit Nehemia. In addition, new roads were paved. The infrastructure for the Patrol Road was constructed in the 1960s, as well as the nahal settlement of Mevo Modi’in, plus a hilltop stronghold, an amphitheatre, the Maccabim Forest, and Neot Kedumim Park, a botanical reserve on the edge of the Ben Shemen Forest, which focuses on ancient farming methods and flora from biblical times. In the 1970s and the 1980s an active recreation area was built which included a tree planting center for tourists. At the same time, additional communities were established, including Shilat and Matityahu. In the 1990s, Ben Shemen Forest became the largest “green lung” in the Tel Aviv region serving the residents of the Dan metropolitan area as a recreational and leisure zone for spending time in the great outdoors.

Today, it offers a diversity of hiking routes, bicycle paths, picnic areas, visiting centers, and archaeological sites. These include: the Israel-Thailand Friendship House, given as a gift to the people of Israel from the people of Thailand as a token of friendship in honor of the 50th anniversary of the State of Israel’s independence and 50 years from the coronation of the king of Thailand, Bhumibol Adulyadej; Tel Gimzo, with a long history of a Jewish community in ancient times and afterwards under the early Arab period; Tel Hadid, an ancient town surrounded by a wall until the time of Joshua, which flourished in the days of the Kingdom of Judah; the Morris Kaufman Recreation Area for the Blind; Modi’in Forest; the Hasmonean Tombs; and a section of the Israel National Trail and the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem Bicycle Path.