Biography of Yehoshua Hankin

Biography of Yehoshua Hankin

Yehoshua Hankin (1864-1945) (also Henkin, Chenkin) was responsible for most of the major land purchases of the Zionist organization. Hankin was born in Kremenchug Ukraine, and moved to Rishon Le-Zion with his parents in 1882. In 1887 his family moved to Gedera, where he became friendly with local Arabs, helping him negotiate the purchase of land. Hankin's first purchase was the land of Rechovot, acquired in 1890. A year later he bought the land that later became the settlement and city of Hadera. He then purchased territories for the Jewish Colonial Association in the Galilee.

In 1908, when the Zionist organization sent Arthur Ruppin and set up the Palestine Land Land Development Corporation, Hankin joined. In 1909 or 1910, Hankin completed his first major purchase in the Jezreel Valley. He bought some  10,000 dunams of land in Al-Fuleh (now Afula), which became the home of Merchavia and Tel Adashim. This purchase also marked the start of bitter disputes between Arabs and Jews over the rights of tenant farmers who had been evicted, and regarding the employment of Jewish or Arab watchmen for the land.

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