HA-NO'AR HA-OVED VE-HA-LOMED (Heb. "Working and Student Youth"), Israel youth movement for boys and
girls aged 9–18. It is an integral part of the *Histadrut . It was founded as Ha-No'ar ha-Oved in 1926 to conduct educational activities among working youth aged 13–18 and improve their wages and working conditions. Its founder and mentor was David *Cohen (d. 1976). The movement ran evening classes, which were taken over by the state in 1955; labor exchanges, taken over by the State Employment Service in 1959; and youth groups for ages 10–12, 13–15, and 16–18. Most of the instructors came from the kibbutzim of *Iḥud ha-Kevuẓot ve-ha-Kibbutzim and *Ha-Kibbutz ha-Me-'uḥad . In 1933 a group of members founded its first kibbutz, *Na'an , and it has provided founding members for about 40 kibbutzim in all. In 1959 Ha-No'ar ha-Oved merged with Habonim-Ha-Tenu'ah ha-Me'uḥedet to form the present organization. In 1970 it had about 100,000 members; somewhat more than one-third were working boys and girls and belonged to the trade sections, and the rest, most of them still at school, belonged to the educational groups. While it had no formal party affiliation, most of its youth leaders belonged to the *Israel Labor Party . At the outset of the 21st century the movement had hundreds of branches, centers, and clubhouses throughout Israel, used by Jewish, Arab, and Druze youth; including young people who work and study in the cities, development towns, kibbutzim, and young immigrants. The movement runs the Labor Union for Youth, which is the organization that acts as the legal representative of young working people in Israel. The movement focuses on involvement in Israeli society and initiates such educational activities as seminars, camps, and daily meetings. The counselors are movement graduates who postpone their military service for one year and work voluntarily in the movement centers or live as a group in development towns. The movement also has activities in the former Soviet Union in order to encourage and prepare young people to immigrate to Israel. At the end of the 1980s, a group of graduates established Merḥav, a movement of people aged 22–30 who live cooperatively in cities and villages and are active in educational work. Members of Merhav established two new kibbutzim: Ravid and Eshbal, located in Galilee.
Ba-Ma'aleh, Itton ha-No'ar ha-Oved (1926– ); Ittim, Ḥoveret Ezer la-Madrikh (1966– ); Aleh, Itton Ḥativat No'ar ha-Iḥud (1966– ). WEBSITE: www.noal.co.il.
[Shaked Gilboa (2nd ed.)]
Source: Encyclopaedia Judaica. © 2008 The Gale Group. All Rights Reserved.