The members of the “Herut Yehuda” organization, founded in 1927, awaited the long-anticipated “green light” that would allow them to settle on the land. This organization, which had around 200 members scattered across various parts of the country, maintained close contact through periodic assemblies focused on issues related to the future workers’ moshav and the progress of the settlement movement.
At the time, numerous settlement groups awaited land allocation, amid challenging circumstances - widespread unemployment in the country, a crisis in the Zionist movement, and a lack of funding from abroad which hindered land purchases. It was then that Avraham Herzfeld, the driving force behind the settlement movement, proposed a bold idea: that the organization members themselves finance the land acquisition. The proposal was accepted enthusiastically, and each member contributed 20 Palestine Pounds (Eretz-Israel Lira), saving the sum from their already meager wages.
Once the funds were raised, Yehoshua Hankin, acting on behalf of the Jewish settlement agency HaKeren HaYesod, purchased land in the area of Tira-Miski-Taibe for three organizations: • “Herut Yehuda” received 875 dunams; • “Yizra’el” received 835 dunams; • and “Tel Aviv” received 450 dunams.
The total sum raised by the members nearly covered the entire cost of 2,160 dunams designated for the future settlements of the Tel Mond bloc. (The price per dunam was approximately 4 Palestine Pounds.)
However, this success soon encountered the murky waters of bureaucracy and political maneuvering. Although the Jewish National Fund (JNF) consented to accept the land purchased by the settlers on its behalf, it delayed formal approval for two years, claiming it must contribute its own share in order for the land to be officially transformed from private to national ownership.
Ultimately, a “creative” solution was devised: the settlers would be exempt from paying lease fees on the land for a number of years, thereby recouping their investment. This arrangement allowed the land to be registered as national property - rather than private holdings, which were deemed ideologically unsuitable for the labor movement’s settlement ethos.
Following this difficult and exhausting struggle - led passionately by Avraham Herzfeld, who served as their representative and advocate - the settlers finally took possession of the land in 1930, marking 1,800 years since the Bar Kochba revolt. The new moshav was named “Herut Yehuda,” echoing the inscription found on ancient coins from the revolt: “Freedom of Judea.”
Due to the limited area of land initially secured, only about 80 members were able to settle. The remaining members relocated to other settlements, such as Kfar Azar and Yarkona, or left the organization. After the initial settlement, additional land parcels were acquired: one referred to as the Balasher lands, and the other the Jirbi lands.
The moshav did not originally have territorial continuity with Tel Mond, as a parcel of land belonging to a resident of the nearby Arab village of Tira - Hamid Mansour - stood between them. Repeated requests by the moshav to purchase this parcel were rejected. These were the days of the Arab Revolt, and any Arab who sold land to Jews risked assassination.
Mansour fenced off his land and blocked vehicular access to Tel Mond, which was the main entrance route to the moshav. Confrontations ensued, and several individuals from both sides required medical treatment. When negotiations and appeals proved ineffective, and the blocked route became a serious security risk, the settlers organized a bold operation. With the cooperation of all the nearby settlements, a road was cleared overnight - creating a fait accompli.
This contentious land dispute ultimately reached the District Court in Tulkarm, where a high price was paid for the disputed parcel.
On the eve of Israel’s War of Independence, the moshav covered approximately 1,500 dunams. Following the establishment of the State, the moshav was granted an additional 2,200 dunams. Around 120 dunams of orchard land were purchased from the Ziv farm to provide established groves for the expansion project. A further 50 dunams - known as the Leviathan lands, located on the western edge of the moshav - were acquired for vegetable cultivation. (It should be noted that both the Ziv orchard lands and the Leviathan lands were originally private property, later transferred to the JNF and the Israel Lands Administration.)
Today, Moshav Herut spans approximately 3,900 dunams. Each farm unit is around 30 dunams in size. The moshav has allocated two land parcels to the Lev HaSharon Regional Council: one for the construction of the regional school “Hadar HaSharon,” and the other for the senior citizens’ center “Dorot BaSharon.”
Written by Asa Bartov, Moshav Herut, 2004