For nearly a century the Kibbutz movement in Israel was defined by its commitment to socialist ideals. Now that is changing, as VOA's Jim Teeple found out when he visited Israel's oldest and most famous Kibbutz: Degania, which was founded in 1910 on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.

The Degania dairy is one of Israel's biggest and oldest. Cows have been milked here since 1910 when the Degania Kibbutz was established by Zionist pioneers from Russia, who believed they were building a socialist utopia.

These dairy workers, unlike those who came before, now receive a salary, just like workers in any other business.

Degania is no longer a socialist enterprise -- but is run like a big business.

The Kibbutz has a thriving industrial diamond business and it also grows and sells millions of dollars of agricultural products.

Recently, the 320 members of the Kibbutz met here and voted to stop putting all their wages into a collective account and start receiving individual salaries based on ability -- salaries they could spend as they wanted. The move made headlines in Israel; Degania - Israel's oldest socialist Kibbutz - had gone capitalist.

Shay Shoshani

Degania members now pay for services such as electricity and water -- and also a new tax to support the elderly and those less well-off. The changes would have shocked Degania's early pioneers -- a mix of socialists, anarchists and communists who believed strongly in a collectivist ideology.

Most members backed the changes. The few who do not refuse to talk on camera about them.

Yonah Shapiro

Allen Shapiro, Yonah's husband moved to Degania in 1955 from the United States. He says he too was reluctant to embrace the changes, but now believes they were a good idea.

Allen Shapiro

Degania occupies a special place in Israel's history. A Syrian tank was captured by Degania's members in Israel's war of Independence in 1948. The legendary Israeli general Moshe Dayan was born and raised at Degania.