Tel Hadid, Ben-Shemen Forest al-Haditha

Spring is in the air…

One of KKL-JNFs oldest forests in Israel

photos were taken February 5, 2008

The Ben Shemen forest is one of the oldest Jewish National Fund (JNF) reforestation projects in Israel, dating from the 1900s and named for its fame as an olive-producing region.
One of the first olive oil factories established in Eretz Yisrael was in Ben Shemen, “Hadid” factory, later known as “Ben-Shemen”.
100 Dunam were bought from the land of Haditha village (located north-east of Lod). The factory began working by the end of January 1906 in Ben Shemen (Hadid). The area was originally planted with olive trees to supply raw materials for the olive oil factory. The olive trees didn’t take very well and not long after the forest was replanted with pines, cypresses and carobs. The “Shemen” factory moved to Haifa.