Ramat Yohanan

The kibbutz was founded in 1931 on land bought by Yehoshua Hankin from the Lebanese in 1925. The founders were a mix of native Jews and immigrants from the United States. It was named after the South African politician Jan Smuts, who was a prominent supporter of Zionism. In 1941, Yitzhak Rabin joined the Palmach section of the Haganah during his stay at kibbutz Ramat Yohanan.

It was the location of the Battle of Ramat Yohanan during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine. The Druze regiment of the Arab Liberation Army were confronted by the Haganah soldiers. During the battle the defenders ran out of ammunition and fought with knives before they were re-supplied. Subsequently, the Druze ran out of ammunition and withdrew to their base in Shefa-'Amr with many casualties. As a result of their defeat, many Druze swapped sides in the conflict, and began co-operating with the Haganah.

Members of the Yiftach Brigade stationed at Ramat Yohanan in 1948

Kibbutz dining room with murals

The kibbutz grows produce including mainly avocado, lychee and citrus fruits. The kibbutz has large dairy farm of 600 milk cows, thousand acres of fields, and a large chicken breeding farm.

The main economical power of the kibbutz comes from the company Palram, which mainly manufactures plastic sheets for the building industry.[3]

Beginning in the 1970s, Ramat Yohanan hosted an ulpan program. In recent years aimed primarily at American and Russian students, the program ceased operating in 2017 mostly due to Israeli government changes to immigration evaluations.