The secret Ayalon Institute cave

KIBBUTZIM HILL - Modern-day Israelis are not known for being overly discrete, as supposedly confidential information finds its way to the media regularly. But things were much different during the country's inception, when people were strict about taking military secrets with them to the grave. Whenever a hidden storage compound for weapons from the British Mandate period is discovered, secrets that for years have been kept from the public are unveiled. One such hush-hush compound, the Ayalon Institute, had been hidden under the guise of a kibbutz for many years, but had eventually been transformed into the Ayalon Institute Museum, located in the city of Rehovot's Kibbutzim Hill. When arriving at the museum, one immediately absorbs the kibbutz atmosphere of yesteryear, complete with the modest wooden shacks, the thicket of eucalyptus trees, the joint kibbutz cafeteria, and the smell of recently irrigated green fields. Everything has remained as it has always been, except for the kibbutz members themselves, who have left the kibbutz and the previously classified occurrences, which took place there three years prior to the Independence War's outbreak. A bullet-manufacturing kibbutz In 1945, David Ben-Gurion had decided that the Jews must arm themselves and prepare for war, and therefore ordered the production of ammunition. Kibbutzim Hill (Givat Hakibbutzim) was chosen as the place due to its deserted locale and proximity to Tel Aviv and to the "Hagana" (formed in 1920 as a clandestine Jewish defense force) headquarters. The area was surrounded by British outposts, but the assumption that the British would not be suspicious of something that was right under their noses proved to be true. A pit the size of a tennis court was formed in the heart of Kibbutzim Hill, on top of which a laundry and a bakery were set up. The of the 30 bullet manufacturing machines that lay beneath it. The museum The Ayalon Institute Museum, located a 15-minute walk from Rehovot's train station, displays the original laundry, including the old water tanks and military apparel, and it is almost impossible to imagine it also contains a shaft that leads to the weapons factory in the basement. The factory workers used a ladder to descend from the laundry into the basement, and turned on a switch that was located in the bakery to open the secret "Ali-Baba" cave where the factory had been situated. The bakery served as a second camouflage and also contained a much wider shaft that led to the factory. However, this shaft would only be used under special circumstances, such as when a machine had to be replaced, or when a new machine had to be lowered in. The main factory vestibule was 33 meters (about 108 feet) long and five meters (about 16 feet) wide, and the machines had been situated along the walls according to their various functionalities. In the corner stood a machine that tested the bullets, and on the wall above the machines was a red alert light that had been activated by a guard situated in the kibbutz entrance. In order to conceal the increased electricity consumption, the electrical line had been hooked up to the main power generator. The museum displays a poster thanking the British government for its kindness in providing the weapons factory with free electricity. The factory produced huge amounts of bullets that had been smuggled during the night and distributed to the Hagana, and later to the IDF, up until the Independence War's cessation. The 45 kibbutz members who had worked in the factory never said a word. Museum information: Telephone: 972.8.940.6552 Prices: Adult- NIS 16 (USD 3.50), Child-NIS 6 (USD 1.30).

The secret Ayalon Institute cave

Museum offers sneak-peak at bullet-manufacturing compound that had been hidden from the British prior to Independence War