Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
Solel Boneh
open-in-new
<h2 id="history">History</h2> <h3>During British rule (1921–1948)</h3> <p>Solel Boneh was founded in 1921 in <a href="/facts/Mandate_Palestine/mv0NGUBy">British-ruled Palestine</a>, during the first conference of the Jewish <a href="/facts/Trade_union/PjeN2WKu">trade union</a>, the General <a href="/facts/Histadrut/03ahI4bN">Histadrut</a>, under the name of Batz (בע"ץ), an acronym of <i>Binyan veAvodot Tziburiot</i> (בניין ועבודות ציבוריות, lit. <i>Construction and Public Works</i>). Its first project was to pave a road from <a href="/facts/Tiberias/MhIlmeXf">Tiberias</a> to <a href="/facts/Samakh%2c_Tiberias/DAUgJnar">Samakh</a>, which is now part of <a href="/facts/Highway_90_(Israel%25E2%2580%2593Palestine)/cXYcKoU1">Highway 90</a>. The company was founded as a <a href="/facts/Cooperative/kQFtXWzt">cooperative</a> organisation in the spirit of <a href="/facts/Socialism/U2kVoPaA">socialist</a> workers' groups. In 1923 it was declared bankrupt partly due to its supplementing wages to Jewish workers. It was resurrected by the Histadrut and the <a href="/facts/World_Zionist_Organization/XIdD5nVV">World Zionist Organization</a> as a company named "Solel Boneh", based on the organisation but managed as a business corporation.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a> </p><p>Solel Boneh had an integral role in major building activities in <a href="/facts/Mandate_Palestine/mv0NGUBy">Mandate Palestine</a>. Among other projects, the company built <a href="/facts/Tegart%2527s_wall/6co7KGwd">Tegart's wall</a> in 1938. It also built the <a href="/facts/Tegart_Forts/nfRTnG65">Tegart Forts</a> and prefabricated the buildings for the <a href="/facts/Tower_and_stockade/oAtXpkyF">Tower and stockade</a> campaign.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> During the Mandate era it built bridges, airfields, bases for the <a href="/facts/British_Army/StuY9Jy2">British Army</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> and army projects in <a href="/facts/Iraq/pqYSFJw8">Iraq</a>, <a href="/facts/Egypt/8Ttg0JwB">Egypt</a>, <a href="/facts/Bahrain/ndXdWPhr">Bahrain</a> and <a href="/facts/Cyprus/t9wL6lVK">Cyprus</a>. It had branches in <a href="/facts/Beirut/0sxJRAqW">Beirut</a> and <a href="/facts/Damascus/IL0Qwt6R">Damascus</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> In 1926, it employed 3,000 workers in various public works projects, included 139 women who worked in construction.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> It had a policy of only employing Jews which was relaxed in 1954.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> </p> <h3>Israel, trade union ownership (1948–1996)</h3> <p>After statehood was <a href="/facts/Declaration_of_Independence_(Israel)/vUVGogEm">achieved in 1948</a>, Solel Boneh continued to play a major role in Israeli construction projects.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> </p><p>Solel Boneh helped strengthen the <a href="/facts/Israel_Defense_Forces/9hPaqcAM">Israel Defense Forces</a> during the <a href="/facts/1948_Arab%25E2%2580%2593Israeli_War/X3GSudUm">1948 Arab–Israeli War</a>, and it built strongholds and systems to supply water, in practice becoming the basis of the first <a href="/facts/Logistics/0Hr2w55W">logistics</a> unit in the IDF.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> </p><p>In 1961, <a href="/facts/Share_(finance)/Tu13xJbS">shares</a> of Solel Boneh were first traded on the <a href="/facts/Tel_Aviv_Stock_Exchange/PgfM57U5">Tel Aviv Stock Exchange</a>. </p><p>Israeli firms, such as Solel Boneh, were often involved in building projects in <a href="/facts/Africa/XkqQUP9s">Africa</a> during the 1960s and 1970s. One reason <a href="/facts/Operation_Entebbe/Mpo0DpLt">Operation Entebbe</a> in 1976 was so well-planned was that the building in which the hostages were being held had been built by Solel Boneh, which still had the <a href="/facts/Blueprints/wyJtXqKz">blueprints</a>, and supplied them to the Israeli government.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a> </p><p>From 1960–1969, Solel Boneh carried out the construction of the <a href="/facts/Basilica_of_the_Annunciation/xghVvVmW">Basilica of the Annunciation</a> in <a href="/facts/Nazareth/hfzpLR1I">Nazareth</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a> </p> <p>In 1984, a subsidiary, Solel Boneh Building and Infrastructure, was founded under full control of the parent company. In 1989, control of Solel Boneh was passed on to the <a href="/facts/Housing_%2526_Construction_Holding_Company_Limited/gYRFCDmG">Housing & Construction Holding Company Limited</a> (Shikun U'Binui).[<i>dubious – discuss</i>] </p> <h3>Privatisation (1996)</h3> <p>In 1996, control of that <a href="/facts/Holding_company/nBGIp6rU">holding company</a>, including Solel Boneh, was obtained by <a href="/facts/Ted_Arison/Fh4X1ScV">Ted Arison</a> and after his death in 1999 later it was passed on to his daughter, <a href="/facts/Shari_Arison/Y6wh163x">Shari Arison</a>. </p> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Economy_of_Israel/c2F8y3pz">Economy of Israel</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Architecture_of_Israel/YU1VMeqe">Architecture of Israel</a></li></ul> <h2 id="further-reading">Further reading</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Encyclopedia_Judaica/AM0dd97e">Encyclopedia Judaica</a> vol. 15 columns 92–93.</li> <li><i>Solelboneh : Jewish Workers Cooperative Association for Public Works, Building and Manufacture ; works 1921 - 1924"". Jerusalem 1924. 82 pages with many photographs. Texts English, German and Hebrew.</i></li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080206045422/http://www.solbo.co.il/english/index.html">Official website</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Ross, Andrew (2019) Stone Men. The Palestinians Who Built Israel. Verso. ISBN 978-1-78873-026-6 p. 37 <a href="/wiki/Andrew_Ross_(sociologist)" target="_blank">/wiki/Andrew_Ross_(sociologist)</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Ross, Andrew (2019) Stone Men. The Palestinians Who Built Israel. Verso. ISBN 978-1-78873-026-6 p.40 <a href="/wiki/Andrew_Ross_(sociologist)" target="_blank">/wiki/Andrew_Ross_(sociologist)</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Historical Dictionary of Israel <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=Mf-xAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA473" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=Mf-xAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA473</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Ross, Andrew (2019) Stone Men: The Palestinians Who Built Israel. Verso. ISBN 978-1-78873-026-6 p. 41 <a href="/wiki/Andrew_Ross_(sociologist)" target="_blank">/wiki/Andrew_Ross_(sociologist)</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Labor Enterprises in Israel: The Institutional Economy, vol. 2, Abraham Daniel <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=dTz4uCTc7fsC&pg=PA31" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=dTz4uCTc7fsC&pg=PA31</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Ross, Andrew (2019) Stone Men. The Palestinians Who Built Israel. Verso. ISBN 978-1-78873-026-6 pp. 43, 61 <a href="/wiki/Andrew_Ross_(sociologist)" target="_blank">/wiki/Andrew_Ross_(sociologist)</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Labor Enterprises in Israel: The Institutional Economy, vol. 2, Abraham Daniel <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=dTz4uCTc7fsC&pg=PA31" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=dTz4uCTc7fsC&pg=PA31</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>"Solel Boneh | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2020-12-20. <a href="https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/solel-boneh" target="_blank">https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/solel-boneh</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>https://ispada-archive.com/page.php?id=138 <a href="https://ispada-archive.com/page.php?id=138" target="_blank">https://ispada-archive.com/page.php?id=138</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>Simhony, Naomi (2020-12-09). "The Central Synagogue of Nazareth Illit and its architectural dialogue with Nazareth's Basilica of the Annunciation". Humanities and Social Sciences Communications. 7 (1): 1–12. doi:10.1057/s41599-020-00660-2. ISSN 2662-9992. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1057%2Fs41599-020-00660-2" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1057%2Fs41599-020-00660-2</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>