Rehovot History: A bullet-manufacturing kibbutz Near Rehovot

"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.

Laundry machines' noise concealed bullet manufacturing (Photo: Ronit Saversky)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

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..."

Source: Ronit Saversky. The secret Ayalon Institute cave: Museum offers sneak-peak at bullet-manufacturing compound that had been hidden from the British prior to Independence War. YnetNews.com (23 April 2005) [FullText]