“Naharayim at Gesher” is in the Beit She’an Valley between Degania and Beit She’an and it offers educational and quite inspiring tours. This site was the former location of Kibbutz Gesher (meaning bridge), and the tour tell the story of the defense of the kibbutz during the War of Independence. Another theme is the first hydroelectric power plant built in Mandate Palestine at nearby Naharayim, which was called the Isle of Peace. Naharayim can no longer be visited. A large working model of the power plant is shown with flowing water. Also a movie about this project. Usual tours are directed at Israelis, but the guide can provide information in English, and the two movies shown have English subtitles if requested. With some background, you can get a lot out of a visit.
Directions: Enter “Naharayim at Gesher” into Waze and click on “נהריים בגשר.”
Time: The tour lasts about 1½ hours.
Admission details: The site is open Sunday to Thursday 9.00 a.m. to 4 p.m., Friday 9.00 a.m. to 2.00 p.m. and Saturday and holidays 11.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. Viewing the site within the context of a tour is advisable. They take place at 11.00 a.m. and 12.30 p.m. on weekdays. Admission is 39 nis, and 35 nis for children 5-13 years and seniors. But call 04-675 2685 to check on prices, tours and their availability in English. This is their website.
Public transport: Enter "נהריים בגשר" into Moovit. There is a bus line between Beit She'an and Tiberias. The site is a 1.2 Km/15-minute walk from Kibbutz Gesher.
Mamluke bridge built on Roman foundations
Kibbutz Gesher and the 1948 War of Independence
Kibbutz Gesher was founded in 1939 at a strategically important location by the Jordan River. The importance of its location can be gauged by the fact that there are three bridges crossing the Jordan River here – a Roman/Mamluke bridge, a Turkish bridge for the Hejaz Railway between Haifa and Damascus built in 1904 that went all the way to Mecca and Medina, and a British bridge built during their Mandate that served the Haifa-Baghdad highway. You will be viewing these bridges during your tour. They were all blown up by Kibbutz Gesher during the War of Independence.
The Roman bridge was repaired following Israel’s peace agreement with Jordan, and you can walk halfway across it (but don’t go all the way or you will be in Jordan). A fortified khan was built next to it from the 14th century to protect the bridges and trade caravans traveling along it, and some of the kibbutz buildings were constructed in its ruins. A British Taggart police post was constructed during the Mandate period.
The kibbutz was begun as a tower and stockade settlement built by a Yishuv youth movement and immigrants from Germany and other countries on land purchased with the help of Baron Edmond de Rothschild.
During the War of Independence, the Haganah took over the British police station when it was evacuated by the British. In April 1948, the kibbutz refused the Arab Legion’s demand to evacuate it, and its 150 members were attacked. An exchange of fire lasted for three days before the Arab Legion gave up. More threatening was an attack by Iraqi forces in May 1948 with armor, artillery and air power. A demolition expert together with some members of the kibbutz undertook the dangerous task of destroying the bridges to prevent the Iraqis from crossing the river. The kibbutz succeeded in repulsing the attack with only light weapons and the Iraqis retreated after 7 days, although the kibbutz buildings had been destroyed. This inspiring victory prevented Arab forces from severing the connection of settlements south of the kibbutz with the north of Israel. After the war, the kibbutz moved to higher ground one kilometer to the west of its original location on the other side of the main road.
During your tour you will visit the Large Shelter. This was a hastily made underground bunker that was constructed during the War of Independence, and which became the center of the kibbutz’s activities during the Iraqi siege. There is also an exhibit about the nearby hydroelectric power plant built at Naharayim (the Two Rivers) by a remarkable individual called Pinhas Rutenberg.
Pinhas Rutenberg and his hydro-electric power plant at Naharayim
Wherever Pinhas Rutenberg found himself he was in the thick of the action – and often in important leadership roles. He was a visionary, and in Palestine at least he was able to bring his ambitious plans to fruition. To describe all his many activities is beyond the scope of this article, but these are some of the highlights, particularly as they relate to Naharayim.
Rutenberg was born in 1879 in what is now the Ukraine and which was then part of the Russian Empire. While studying in the Technology Institute in Saint Petersburg, then the imperial capital of Russia, he became active in the Socialist-Revolutionary Party in Russia and played an active role in the Russian revolutions of 1905 and 1917.
Forced to emigrate after the first Russian Revolution, he moved to Italy in 1906 and studied hydraulic engineering. When the First World War broke out, he appreciated the importance of the Jews in Palestine having an army and he and Ze’ev Jabotinsky and Joseph Trumpeldor formed the Jewish Legion. While in the US promoting his ideas, he cofounded the American Jewish Congress and also completed designs for the use of hydraulic resources for irrigation and generating electric power for all of Palestine.
He was back in Russia for the Revolution of 1917 in leadership roles, but was imprisoned by the Bolsheviks. He was released and made his way to Palestine in 1919 via France. He was determined to carry out his ideas for generating electricity and while in Paris he presented his ideas to Baron Edmond de Rothschild. This was just the type of project the Baron was interested in and he was promised financial support.
When he arrived in Palestine, he established the Haganah together with Jabotinsky and served as the chief officer of their troops in Tel Aviv during the Arab hostilities of 1921.
The first electricity-generating plant built by the company he founded, the Jaffa Electric Company, was located in Jaffa. This was diesel fueled and provided electricity to Jaffa, Tel Aviv and neighboring settlements. He subsequently founded the Palestine Electric Corporation which would eventually supply power to all of Mandate Palestine with power plants in Tel Aviv, Haifa, Tiberius, and eventually Jerusalem.
His most impressive achievement in providing electric power to Palestine was his building the first hydro-electric plant in the Middle East at Naharim, at the confluence of the Jordan and Yarmouk Rivers. This site was on the other side of the River Jordan in Jordan and this complication needed to be resolved at the highest political level, specifically from its king Emir Abdullah. The difficulties were resolved and 700 pioneers were able to complete a 14-meter-high dam and other dams, a 300-acre artificial lake for storing water, and a 300-meter-long pipe for bringing water to the turbines. Completed by 1932, it provided power to both countries, which is why Abdullah agreed to it.
The power plant ceased functioning from the time of the 1948 War of Independence when the building was occupied by Iraqi forces.
Fast forward to 1994 and the peace agreement with Jordan when it was agreed that Jordan would have sovereignty over the 1,000-dunam island that had been created, but Israel would have a renewable 25-year lease for use of the land. This land was used by Kibbutz Ashdot Ya’acov. Israelis could cross the border and visit the site without a visa or passport just by showing their Israeli ID card. The lease ended in 2019 and the Jordanians refused to renew it. This was the end of the Isle of Peace as a tourist site. All we have instead is "Naharayim in Gesher."
The Hejaz Railway built by the Ottomans in 1904.
The kitchen in the Large Shelter used during the Iraqi invasion.
Movie about Pinhas Rutenberg and his power station projected in the model room.
Model of Rutenberg's hydro-electric power plant.
The British police station at Gesher.
You can cross the Roman/Mamluke bridge as it has been repaired - but only halfway!or you will find yourself in Jordan!