Talia Farm
Talia Farm is an agricultural farm in the Ma’on–Carmel bloc, east of Beit Yatir and south of Susya. It is also known as Nof HaNesher Farm or Lucifer Farm.[1]
The farm was established by Yaakov and Marcel Talia, and was managed by Yaakov until his death in a tractor accident in 2015. The farm raises Dorper sheep.
The farm’s land overlooks the city of Arad, Mount Hebron, Dimona, Amman, and the Dead Sea. One of the hills near the farm was identified by Dr. Oz Golan as the biblical Sela HaMachlekot.[2]
History of the farm
In 1981, the State of Israel transferred to the World Zionist Organization about 4,000 dunams of grazing land in the Mount Hebron area, near the Green Line, for grazing purposes.
Settlement activists who were looking for a farmer to establish an isolated farm, in order to protect state lands from illegal Bedouin settlement, approached Yaakov Talia in 1995. Talia was a convert from South Africa, born under the name Jacobus Johannes, and they asked him to establish an isolated farm at the site. Four times Talia refused to settle on the hill, due to the expected difficulties facing anyone who would settle there. The fifth time he agreed, on condition that he receive government backing. He said: “No one else had the courage to come… They knew it would be a battle.” According to his testimony, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin signed the approval for the establishment of the farm weeks before he was assassinated in 1995. The licensing subcommittee approved the placement of two caravans, a storage shed, and a guard room on grazing lands. Around these structures, Yaakov established the farm.
The farm was initially known as Lucifer Farm, after the Latzeifar police station (Arabic: al-ʿAṣayfir), which was established during the British Mandate period and was intended to protect the road leading from Jerusalem through Hebron to the Negev. A written authorization agreement was signed and given to Yaakov Talia in 1999. The owners of the farm have an allocation agreement from the World Zionist Organization to use the site as a grazing farm until July 2042. The area of the farm was 4,500 dunams.
In 1997, when the farm was established, Yaakov Talia personally imported expensive Dorper sheep from South Africa.
On December 25, 2006, following a petition by Palestinians, the Civil Administration prohibited Talia from entering half of the farm’s area. Talia filed a counterclaim demanding that the ban be canceled. Talia argued that although the land was outside the boundaries of state land, he had the right to remain there because he had cultivated it for more than a decade and had even imported a harvesting combine from Germany for that purpose. Palestinians were permitted to enter the farm’s cultivated areas, and grapevine saplings were uprooted.
The farm suffered from many break-ins and thefts, mainly of the farm’s sheep herds. In one break-in, 621 Dorper sheep were stolen. Yaakov Talia purchased a new flock and cultivated a vineyard.
On June 15, 2015, Yaakov Talia was killed after the bucket of a tractor he was operating fell on him.[1] After his death, his daughter Liora continued to manage the farm until her brothers, who were serving as combat soldiers, were discharged from their service.
On April 13, 2016, during a nighttime break-in at the farm, about 60 sheep were stolen, including around 40 ewes that were about to give birth. The thieves took advantage of the stormy weather and broke through the fence. The financial damage was estimated at about 150,000 NIS.
On November 15, 2016, Yedidya, Yaakov Talia’s son, was attacked by masked men and was lightly injured. His brother Bezalel fired into the air, thereby saving him.
On October 24, 2017, Bedouin intruders from the Abu al-Qi’an tribe attacked the residents of the farm and were arrested.[2][3]
On March 17, 2018, three Arab intruders entered the farm’s territory. One of the intruders tried to run over Yedidya Talia, who was forced to fire into the air in order to defend himself. Following the incident, Yedidya was arrested and his weapon was confiscated.[4]
In 2018, Palestinians began claiming ownership of an area within the farm’s territory. After receiving approval from the Civil Administration to enter the area, they planted trees donated by Rabbis for Human Rights. In 2019, the head of Central Command informed the farm’s owners that the area removed from their plot was private Palestinian land, an enclave within the state lands allocated to Talia Farm, and that entry there was permitted only to Palestinians.
Marcel, one of the farm’s founders, was among the first victims murdered in the October 7 massacre, during the first minutes of the attack, at Kibbutz Ein HaShlosha during the assault on the kibbutz. Marcel was staying at the kibbutz for the birth of her grandchild the previous day and was murdered outside her daughter’s home.[5]
Today, the farm is managed by Yaakov Talia’s sons and daughter: Yedidya, Bezalel, and Shira.
References
- ↑ "ההרוג בתאונת עבודה ליד יתיר: יעקב טליה ז"ל - סרוגים". www.srugim.co.il (in עברית). 2015-06-16. Retrieved 2026-05-24.
- ↑ הרבה יותר נוח לגלוש באפליקציית חדשות 20, לחץ עכשיו להורדה. "הטרור החקלאי: פלסטינים ניסו לחדור לחוות טליה בדרום הר חברון". www.20il.co.il. Archived from the original on 2020-06-01. Retrieved 2026-05-24.
- ↑ glz.co.il https://glz.co.il/%D7%92%D7%9C%D7%A6/%D7%AA%D7%95%D7%9B%D7%A0%D7%99%D7%95%D7%AA/%D7%A0%D7%9B%D7%95%D7%9F-%D7%9C%D7%94%D7%91%D7%95%D7%A7%D7%A8/%D7%A0%D7%9B%D7%95%D7%9F-%D7%9C%D7%94%D7%91%D7%95%D7%A7%D7%A825-10-2017-0801/%D7%94%D7%95%D7%90-%D7%94%D7%9E%D7%A9%D7%99%D7%9A-%D7%9C%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%A5-%D7%90%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%99-%D7%A2%D7%9D-%D7%9E%D7%95%D7%98-%D7%A4%D7%9C%D7%A1%D7%98%D7%99%D7%A0%D7%99%D7%9D-%D7%A0%D7%99%D7%A1%D7%95-%D7%9C%D7%AA%D7%A7%D7%95%D7%A3-%D7%90%D7%AA-%D7%91%D7%A2%D7%9C%D7%99-%D7%97%D7%95%D7%95%D7%AA-%D7%98%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%94. Retrieved 2026-05-24. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ↑ הררי, אורלי (2026-05-24). "עימות בחוות טליה בהר חברון". ערוץ 7 (in עברית). Retrieved 2026-05-24.
- ↑ מרלין-רוזנצוייג, אורית; מרלין-רוזנצוייג, אורית (2023-10-09). "ילדה תינוקת ביום חמישי, איבדה את אמה בשבת: "מצאו אותה עם ממתקים לילדים, ירויה"". Ynet (in עברית). Retrieved 2026-05-24.
This article "Talia Farm" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Talia Farm. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
