Kibbutz El Rom sits on the Golan Heights at 1,050 meters above sea level, making it the highest kibbutz in Israel. Founded in 1971, four years after Israel captured the Golan, El Rom was evacuated during the Yom Kippur War when Syrian forces came dangerously close during the battle of the Valley of Tears. The kibbutz members returned after the war and rebuilt.
Highest Kibbutz
Life at 1,050 meters means cold winters, sometimes snow, and cool summer nights. The kibbutz is surrounded by cattle ranches and the open grasslands of the northern Golan, and the views stretch to Mount Hermon. El Rom is small and remote, but it has a guesthouse and a restaurant that make it a good base for exploring the northern Golan.
Oz 77 Film
El Rom is home to an immersive film experience about the battle of the Valley of Tears and the 77th Tank Battalion. The film uses original footage, dramatic reenactments, and personal testimonies from veterans to tell the story of the four days when a handful of tank crews held the line against an overwhelming Syrian assault. The screening room shakes, the sound surrounds you, and by the end, the valley outside the window looks different from how it looked when you walked in. It is one of the most powerful visitor experiences on the Golan Heights.
Elrom Studios: Subtitles from the Mountaintop
One of the more unexpected facts about the highest kibbutz in Israel is that it has been producing subtitles and dubbing for the film industry since 1983. Elrom Studios, founded at the kibbutz, became one of Israel’s leading companies for film translation, subtitling, and dubbing. The company held the dubbing rights for Disney content in Israel and produced Hebrew versions of countless international films and television shows. The idea that the voices you hear in Hebrew Disney movies were produced at a kibbutz on the Golan Heights, 1,050 meters above sea level, is the kind of detail that makes Israel endlessly surprising.
Visitors to El Rom can experience the Cinema Experience museum, where a 3D film explains the process of translation and subtitle production. In 2021, the company’s employees purchased the rights from the kibbutz and continued operating independently.
Visit with Hoshen Tours
El Rom and the Oz 77 film are a natural combination with Mount Bental and the Valley of Tears. Hoshen Tours includes them in Golan Heights itineraries that connect the battles, the landscape, and the communities that rebuilt after the war.
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