Avigdor colony

Avigdor is a small moshav in the southern part of occupied Palestine, established on the lands of the depopulated Palestinian village of Qastina. It is located south of Kiryat Malakhi and approximately 6 km north of Kiryat Gat, covering an area of 3.75 square kilometers.

It was founded in 1950 by former British Army soldiers and was initially named “Yael,” which is an acronym for the Hebrew Transport Units, the unit to which the former British Army fighters belonged during the war. The unit commander was Henry D’Avigdor Goldsmid, son of Sir Osmond Elim D’Avigdor Goldsmid. Later, the name was changed to Avigdor, derived from the Zionist Sir Osmond Elim D’Avigdor Goldsmid, an Englishman who served as chairman of the Palestine Zionist Colonization Association between 1934 and 1939, which donated the municipal land to the moshav.

The population is partially composed of farmers, with main occupations including dairy farming, turkey and chicken raising, and various field crops, alongside professionals (lawyers, accountants, engineers, etc.). In recent years, the moshav has experienced development and growth. The number of settlers was 762 in 2014 and increased to approximately 815 in 2022.

Sources:
Due to the scarcity of Arabic sources, Hebrew sources were used: the settlement’s Hebrew website / the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics.
The village of Qastina from the Palestine Remembered website.