Government

The essence of kibbutz government is direct democracy, with daily decisions being made by committees subject to the authority of the kibbutz General Assembly. Since even the most inconsequential decision can be appealed to the General Assembly, it is in the committees' interest to be as fair and reasonable as possible (as opposed to representative democracy, where the principal check on power is the desire to be re-elected).

The kibbutz General Assembly is the most powerful body on the kibbutz. Decisions made there are final, although every decision can be appealed. All kibbutz members are invited to the General Assembly, which takes place about every six weeks.

There are 13 committees that make most major decisions and recommendations to the General Assembly:

The Absorption committee handles all absorption inquiries. This committee also organizes visits from potential candidates for membership, advises current candidates and takes care of their needs, and, when necessary, acts as an intermediary between candidates and the kibbutz.

The Planning and Building committee supervise the many construction projects. They are also responsible for long-term planning of the physical structure of the kibbutz.

Any event that takes place in the kibbutz synagogue is the responsibility of the Jewish Tradition committee This committee also is involved in all ritual affairs and life-cycle events, as well as offering recommendations and suggestions for kibbutz religious policy.

All health related issues are handled by the Health committee, including reimbursements, individual health and medical requirements and ambulance personnel and training.

The Pre-School Education committee deals with all issues related to pre-schoolers, including equipment for the childrens' houses and playgrounds, hiring day-care workers if necessary, and dealing with a variety of special requests from parents.

The School-aged Education committee deals with all issues related to school-aged children, including equipment needs both at school and at home, after-school activities, summer camp and the youth movement.

The Adult Children of Kibbutz committee deals with all issues related to the kibbutz children when they leave high school: while they are in army service, national service or after their service. The committee takes care of their housing needs, special benefits and options for higher education.

The Cultural committee plans most of the kibbutz cultural events. This includes booking events from other parts of the country, arranging tickets and transportation to cultural events in the area, and organizing original kibbutz cultural happenings.

The Work committee takes care of problems with the day-to-day work situation and short term solutions to work related issues.

Long term work personnel planning is handled by the Human Relations committee. This mainly involves finding suitable candidates for the various key kibbutz positions and committees. The Human Relations committee is also in charge of members' requests for further education.

The Environmental Committee helps organize environmental activities, promote recycling, promote the use of sustainable products for cleaning, and seeks to improve the community's impact on our environment in every way.

This committee takes care of the issues or special needs that sometimes come up in an individual or family's life that require special attention or arrangements. One example is helping to take care of all the arrangements needed if a member's parent is ill and the member needs to go be with them.

The Mazkirut, usually in preparation for the General Assembly meetings, hears committee recommendations, appeals to decisions, hears special requests, and gives initial approval to budgets and special issues.

In addition to these committees there are also "Task Forces" that are formed as needed to deal with special topics. Some of the current task forces include: holidays, special education, telephones, computers, housing, and library.