Triguboff Institute marks the completion of an initiative assisting the return of evacuees to the Gaza Envelope

A joint venture initiative of Shaar Hanegev Regional Council Kibbutz Ruhama and the Triguboff Institute has led to the return of the evacuated Kfar Aza Kibbutz community to a long-term temporary location in a neighbouring Kibbutz minutes’ drive from their homes destroyed during the October 7 attack.

The hosting Kibbutz Ruhama will serve as a temporary home for the evacuated community for the next three to four years until the reconstruction and rehabilitation of their evacuated Kibbutz Kfar Aza.

As a special gesture recognizing the role the Triguboff Institute leadership played in that initiative, a garden in front of the renovated Central Clinic and the central Dining Hall will be named in honour of Harry Triguboff’s friends Hadassa and Efraim Halevy to mark Halevi’s 90th birthday and 14 years of service as the Chairman of the Triguboff institute in Israel.

At an event attended by members of the board of the Triguboff Institute, kibbutz representatives, and members of multiple generations of the Halevy Family, the first tree in the garden was planted by a Halevy couple in front of a cornerstone  of a provisional sign saying: “On this location, the Hadassah and Efraim Halevy Garden will be established in recognition of  his leadership and work for decades promoting Israel’s  security and peace, and in appreciation of the support for the settlement of the Negev and the return to the Gaza Envelope” 

In the early days after October 7, Efraim Halevy, former head of the Mossad and the Chairman of the Triguboff Institute, led and promoted support to aid multiple sites affected by the 7th October attack, and specifically in extending assistance to the evacuees of the Gaza Envelope settlements. Halevy leveraged this to drive involvement in the rehabilitation of the Gaza Envelope evacuees many weeks before the arrival of government officials and played a pivotal role in the ground-breaking project. He was commended by the project director Amit Ferdman for his unique contribution: “Efraim, you and the Triguboff Institute stood with us immediately after the events of October 7, upon the outbreak of the war….thanks to your understanding and faith…we were able to promote the idea of having Ruhama serve as a temporary home for the evacuated communities… You gave us courage and confidence, and the wind beneath our wings made it possible”.

Efraim Halevy addressed the audience, expressing his appreciation and gratitude to Harry Triguboff for his consistent and continuous support during his over-decade term as Chair of the Triguboff  Institute. He thanked the management of the Institute and stressed that  “it was a great privilege to be part of significant projects on behalf of the state and Israeli society, including the project in Ruhama for the evacuees from the Envelope area.”

Through the Regional Council, the Triguboff Institute filled the void by providing resources for upgrading the restored dining hall area and renovating the medical clinic. The clinic previously served 500 residents but will now serve more than 1,100 when the evacuees of Kibbutz Kfar Aza relocate to Kibbutz Ruhama for the next 3–4 years until they can rebuild and return to their homes. Six hundred members of Kibbutz Kfar Aza will live in 182 cara-villas in two neighbourhoods in Kibbutz Ruhama. Infrastructure for these neighbourhoods was constructed by the WZO Settlement Division and KKL-JNF, with Israel state rehabilitation allocation funds.