Here’s a reason to celebrate: Fifty years of eating lettuce and other vegetables at Amirim, the vegetarian and vegan village in the east of the Upper Galilee. The moshav, no longer the exclusive province of vegetarian enthusiasts, has become a tourist and vacation village offering accommodations, small galleries, and a variety of flavors.
Originally founded in 1950 by immigrants from Yemen and North Africa, Amirim was later abandoned. In 1956 a group of vegans and vegetarians settled there, and a few years later the first guest units were built. Twenty-five years ago Amirim was declared the first tourist village in Israel.
Today some 180 families live there, some of them third- and fourth-generation moshavniks who’ve established their own small businesses. Amirim has 150 guest houses for couples and families, restaurants, spas, jeep tours, galleries, holistic doctors and healers, artists, herb gardens, observation points, and hiking trails, and most of the people on the moshav make their living from tourism.
Amirim has two observation points that offer a view of the Sea of Galilee, the Golan Heights, and the Lower Galilee. Mitzpeh Menahem, at the end of the street at the top of the moshav, is named after Menahem Kashtan, a pilot from Amirim who was killed in the Yom Kippur War.
The second observation point is named after Yitzhak Rabin, and is located at the end of the street leading from the entrance to the moshav. The observation points are not far from a sculpture garden in the center of the village featuring 20 sculptures created by both Israeli and foreign artists, which were once part of the Israel Museum’s collection.
Artists from all over the world are drawn to this special place, and many also sell their works in village galleries and studios. Some of the galleries are also small restaurants serving vegetarian fare. Check the galleries’ hours of operation before you arrive.