After the establishment of the State of Israel, waves of mass immigration began arriving in Israel. Within a short period of time, many new immigrants arrived in Israel, and the country had to find places of residence for all of them. Levi Eshkol, who was, at the time, head of the Settlement Department of the Jewish Agency, came up with the plan of absorption camps (ma’abarot in Hebrew). Absorption camps were built all over the country, mostly near existing settlements so that the new immigrants could find work more easily and would not have to depend on financial aid from the Jewish Agency. This plan was carried out very quickly and already in 1950 the first camp was built near Jerusalem. These camps were supposed to be only temporary solutions for the immigrants – until they would be transferred to permanent housing. That is why the facilities that were built in the absorption camps were poor: tents, and wood or asbestos shacks.
The conditions in the absorption camps were harsh. There was no steady supply of electricity and water, the density was high and the immigrants had difficulties finding a job. The shacks and tents were exposed to the influences of weather: it was hot in the summer and cold in the winter. The absorption camps did not lasted long, and by 1960 most of the immigrants were transferred to permanent housing. The places that had previously been absorption camps now became new towns or neighborhoods in existing towns.