Are Israel’scooperatives
makingacomeback?
TelAviv’sBarKayma ismore thanameetingpoint forvegan
hippies– it’sasign the Israeli cooperative isback invogue
I
srael has always done
cooperatives, associations
that come together for
mutual economic and
social benefit. Since the
early days of Zionism in the late 19th
century, the kibbutz andmoshav
agricultural communitieswerecentral to
society, andmany of Israel’s largest
companies havebeencooperatives.
But since the 1970s, government
legislation and awider shift towards
pure capitalismhas placed the old
co-ops on the endangered list.
The kibbutzimhave struggled
financially and the likes of
Egged – Israel’s largest bus
company – have reduced
cooperativemembers
and employedmore
regular employees.
“In its early days, Israel
was a cooperative
empire,” says Yifat
Solel, an Israeli lawyerwho specialises
incivil and social rights issues, and
has helped to set upmany of thenew
generationcooperatives. “Muchof its
industrywas cooperative,most of its
supermarkets anddepartment stores,
someof its cultural life–publishing
houses and theatres – almost everything
was cooperative. But increasingly
they’vedisappeared– they’reno longer
considered relevant.”
Then, in2011, Israel sawwidespread
protests against risinghouse and
foodprices, and anew generation
of cooperatives started springingup
again. A year after theprotests,more
than40newcooperatives had formed,
from theHa’agala co-op grocery store
inMitzpehRamon to a social workers’
cooperative andone innorthern Israel
comprising teachers employedby
manpower companies. Oneof themost
interesting isBar Kayma in Tel Aviv’s
Florentinneighbourhood. Yigal Ramban
and JulianFeder, both leading activists in
the social protests, had the initial idea
for a cooperativebar-restaurant. By
the time a spacehadbeen found and
renovation started the grouphad
grown to50; at opening time inMay
2012 therewere 150members, and
today there aremore than400.
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