A. During palm trip to Persia: Ben-Zion standing near signpost on Ramadi-Rutba intersection

B. 1936, during trip to Persia: Transferring palm plants from Iraqi coast to Persian coast

C. Zion Mualem, Ben-Zion's contact to Jewish communities on palm trips to Persia

D. In palm nurseries in Land of Israel

E. Persia, 1954. From the left: Yani Avidav, Ben-Zion Israeli, two Jews from local community

F. Cover of album given to Yani Avidav as gift for his work in completing mission

Palm man's travels

Ben-Zion Israeli risked his life when he went on missions on behalf of Zionist settlement to Egypt, Iraq, Kurdistan and Persia, in bid to bring high quality palm species to Land of Israel, but was later killed in unfortunate accident in Kibbutz Ma'agan. Second and last story in series

Nadav Man|Published: 03.05.09 , 09:29

In this article we continue the story of Ben-Zion Israeli (1887-1954). In the previous article we were introduced to Ben-Zion's "palm trips" to Egypt, Iraq, Kurdistan and Persia in a bid to bring palm species to the Land of Israel and revive the palm growing industry.

In the first part of this article we present photographs documenting Ben-Zion's trips to Persia and Iraq in 1935 and 1936, during which he purchased thousands of palm branches and brought them to Israel after many hardships.

In the second part of the article we follow the palm trip from Iraq to Israel in 1954, which Ben-Zion did not live to complete.

Ben-Zion's last palm trip occurred after the State's establishment, in 1954. He went on this trip with Yani Avidav of Nahalal. Avidav was a member of Mossad Le'aliyah Bet (Institution for Immigration B), which brought illegal Jewish immigrants to the Land of Israel before the State's establishment, and was involved in the Haganah defense association's purchase operations.

Later that year, Ben-Zion returned to Kinneret for a short visit. He took part in a rally in memory of the paratroopers from the Land of Israel killed in World War II in Europe, which took place near Kibbutz Ma'agan. During the event, a Piper aircraft in the midst of an aerobatics show crashed into the audience. Ben-Zion was among the casualties. After Ben-Zion's death, Yani Avidav decided to complete the mission.

1. 1936, at the railway station in Basra, Iraq. Loading the palm plants on the train wagons

2. 1936, at the railway station in Basra, Iraq. Loading the palm plants on the train wagons

3. In order to bring the palm plants from Iraq to the Land of Israel, Ben-Zion rented four trucks. The trucks had to cross the desert on their way to Israel carrying some 1,000 plants each!

4. The trucks and their drivers on the road

5. One of the trucks during the journey

6. One of the trucks caught fire during the drive in the desert. In the photo: Amram Raver and Ben-Zion standing near the burnt truck

7. The end of the journey: The trucks reach Kibbutz Kvutzat Kinneret

8. Unloading the plants from the trucks to a wagon of mules in Kinneret. Aharonik, Ben-Zion's son, is sitting on a chair of sprigs brought from Iraq.

9. Yani Avidav about Ben-Zion's death in the Ma'agan disaster while in Persia, but decides to complete the mission. At that time Israel had friendly relations with the Persians under the rule of Shah Reza Pahlavi. The palm branches were in Iraq. Yani used his power and managed to transport the palm branches on boats through the Shatt al-Arab river to the Khorramshahr port on the Persian side of the river. In the photo: The boats used to smuggle the branches to Persia

10. Yani rented a ship to transport the branches to Israel. The boat carried an Italian flag and its travel documents had Europe as its destination through the Suez Canal. Only when they were in the Mediterranean Sea, the ship's captain was informed of the change in the journey's destination. A great commotion erupted, but the ship eventually reached Haifa. Unfortunately, many of the palm branches dried up during the journey. In the photo: The ship during the journey.

11. The palm branches smuggled from Iraq were of the Hadrawi, Sair and Hallawi species. The Kinneret men brought the palm branches to the plant nurseries in the Doshan farm in the Jordan Valley and Yotvata in order to rehabilitate them and prepare them for planting at the orchards. The Yotvata plant nursery distributed plants to the Arava communities, while the Doshan nursery distributed plants to the Beit Shean and Jordan Valley communities. The more common plant species in Israel today are fruitful species brought from North Africa.

Throughout the years, when the palm trees were no longer fruitful, they were transferred in one piece as ornamental trees to decorate the entrance to Ben-Gurion Airport and the area near the southern city of Dimona. In the photo: One of the plant nurseries

12. When the palm orchard was planted in Kibbutz Eilot, "Neot Ben-Zion", a monument in memory of Ben-Zion Israeli's work was inaugurated in the area. On the left: Shmuel Stoler, Chaya Israeli (Ben-Zion's wife) and Nachman Yardeni

Zion Mualem, who appears in photo No. 3, immigrated to Israel at some point. We are looking for information about him and would be happy if our readers could help us.