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The Difference of One 'P', and Over Half a Million Dunams

Behind Israel’s agricultural landscapes and historic moshavot (agricultural colonies) stand two historical organizations with similar names—JCA and PICA. The connection and distinction between them encapsulate a significant chapter in the history of settlement in the Land of Israel.


JCA (Yiddish: Yidishe Kolonizatsye Asosyatsye, English: Jewish Colonization Association, Hebrew: החברה היהודית להתיישבות) was established in 1891 by Baron Maurice de Hirsch. JCA’s original purpose was global: to assist Eastern European Jews suffering from persecution to emigrate and establish agricultural communities in various parts of the world—primarily in Argentina, where the association's largest settlement enterprise was founded, but also in Brazil and Canada.


JCA's involvement in the Land of Israel began as early as the late 19th century. Following Baron de Hirsch's death in 1896, the association began supporting several moshavot that were not under the patronage of Baron Rothschild, and in early 1899, it even purchased the lands of Sejera in the Lower Galilee. However, the major turning point arrived in 1900. By then, Baron Edmond de Rothschild ("The Known Benefactor"), who had financially supported the First Aliyah moshavot (such as Zikhron Ya'akov, Rosh Pina, and Rishon LeZion), recognized that the administrative system he had implemented—which had indeed saved the settlements but created ongoing dependency, financial losses, and tensions between administrators and farmers—had run its course. A profound change in the management model was required. He transferred the management of the moshavot to JCA, while continuing to head the committee established for this purpose and fund its operations. JCA officials spearheaded a process of professional streamlining, promoted the economic independence of the farmers, and guided them to transition to field crops and modern agriculture rather than relying on continuous financial support. In addition to managing the existing moshavot, JCA purchased lands and established new settlements, particularly in the Lower Galilee region, such as Ilaniya (Sejera), Yavne'el, and Kfar Tavor.


PICA (Yiddish: Palestine Yidishe Kolonizatsye Asosyatsye, English: Palestine Jewish Colonization Association, Hebrew: החברה להתיישבות יהודית בארץ-ישראל) - In the early 1920s, Baron Edmond de Rothschild decided to separate the settlement activities in the Land of Israel from JCA's global operations. He proposed to JCA to transform its Palestine committee into an independent company that would bear full responsibility for the country's agricultural and industrial development. The proposal was accepted, and in 1924, PICA was established as a separate legal and organizational entity, headed by the Baron's son, James de Rothschild.


Unlike JCA, which continued to operate across the globe, PICA focused exclusively within the borders of the Land of Israel. The company purchased extensive lands, completed the draining of the Kabara swamps (near Jisr az-Zarqa) which had begun in the early 1920s, and supported industrial enterprises in the country—including the Grand Moulins (Great Mills) in Haifa, the salt factory in Atlit, and the "Nesher" cement factory. Alongside this, PICA established new settlements, such as Pardes Hanna (1929), and continued the Rothschild enterprise's tradition of naming settlements after family members—just as Binyamina was named after the Baron himself, Giv'at Ada after his wife, and Pardes Hanna after a family relative from London.


PICA's historical contribution came to a noble conclusion in 1957–1958, after the State of Israel had already been established and consolidated. James de Rothschild decided to dissolve the company and transfer its assets to the state. Following his death in May 1957, the move was executed by his widow, Dorothy de Rothschild, who served as PICA's president and corresponded with Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion to this end. Within this framework, most of the company's lands and assets—about 50 settlements and areas totaling roughly half a million dunams—were transferred to the State of Israel and the Jewish National Fund (JNF). In his will, James also bequeathed the donation for the construction of the Knesset building. Thus, the House of Rothschild made an immense contribution to shaping public land ownership in the state.


For further reading about the Rothschild family and their activities in the Land of Israel: https://www.nirtopper.com/he/post/rothschild

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Baron Maurice de Hirsch, founded JCA in 1891. Image: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons



PICA personnel in the Kabara swamps in the 1920s. Right to left: Joel (Jules) Rosenheck, Director General; Shmuel Goldman, Engineer; Zvi Henry Frank, Director; Moshe Ginzburg, Treasurer General; and Amram Khazanov, Agronomist. Image: The David B. Keidan Collection of Digital Images from the Central Zionist Archives (via Harvard University Library). Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons




Map of the Kabara swamps, 1870.

An 1870s map of the area of Kabara, Haifa from the PEF Survey of Palestine. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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