First Israeli recipient of Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, who made Negev desert bloom, passes away

Jerusalem, Nov 17 (PTI) Indian-origin entrepreneur Eliyahu Bezalel who started as a shepherd in Israel and went on to become an award-winning agriculturist and recipient of the prestigious Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, passed away on Sunday. He was 95.

Bezalel, who left his village of Chendamangalam in Kerala in 1955 for Israel at the age of 25, maintained strong sentimental links with his motherland, which he said "taught him the spirit of co-existence".

He was conferred the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, the highest civilian honour bestowed by India on non-resident Indians, in 2006.  "I am proud to be an Indian. My children and grandchildren call themselves Cochinis and Indians with pride, saying they come from a culture which is tolerant of all faiths and where their forefathers did not feel any kind of anti-Semitism," Bezalel then told PTI.

Bezalel, who made the Negev desert in Israel bloom and won the best exporter award from former Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkhol in 1964, had also taken pains to share his expertise in the area of horticulture with Indian farmers who have tried to replicate it in recent years.

The Israeli parliament (Knesset) awarded him the Kaplan prize in 1994.

Bezalel's farm in the south of Israel remains a major attraction among Indian agriculturists and politicians, with former Prime Minister H D Devegowda, agriculture minister Sharad Pawar and agriculturist M S Swaminathan among the prominent visitors.  He also travelled to several places in India to give lectures and teach techniques in horticulture since 1971.

The enterprising Indian Jew decided to move to the Negev region a few years after immigration, at a time when few were willing to live there.  He started agriculture on a very small scale when the first pipeline came to the area in 1958.

In 1959, Bezalel started growing and exporting gladioli flower bulbs to Holland.

"The soil in the Negev was virgin and good for growing the bulbs. The Dutch took a special fancy for it and it turned out to be a big success," he had explained.

The Indian entrepreneur never looked back after that, and prizes soon started to flow in appreciation of his initiative in the desert.

The Israeli agriculture ministry sent him to England to learn about horticulture in 1969. Upon his return, he set up the first modern greenhouse in Israel with two partners, which has come to be identified as an area of Israeli expertise worldwide.

He then started exporting roses to Holland, with Israel emerging as the second largest exporter to that country.

"His life was shaped by humility, perseverance and devotion to both family and work. Eliyahu never forgot his roots in India," the Indian Jewish Heritage Centre and Cochin Jewish Heritage Centre said in an obituary for the 'beloved son of the Malabari Jewish community'.

"He authored and was associated with writings reflecting his dual attachments, including My Motherland My Fatherland, which documents his memories and perspectives bridging both cultures", the obituary read.

Bezalel lived with his daughter in Kidron and had not been keeping well for some time. PTI HM GRS GRS GRS