Kalya was spared violence in the 1936 – 39 Arab revolt due to good relations with the Arabs ; the plant employed many Arab laborers from Jericho . Despite negotiations between the kibbutz leadership and Jordan 's Arab Legion to preserve the kibbutz under Jordanian control at the time of the 1948 Arab – Israeli War , the imprisonment of Jews in the Jordanian-held Naharayim complex and the Kfar Etzion massacre led David Ben-Gurion to call for the residents ' evacuation and their consolidation in the southern Dead Sea . Residents of Kalia and nearby Beit HaArava ultimately fled by boat on 20 May 1948 , and the two kibbutzim were destroyed by the Jordanians . The area remained unpopulated save a Jordanian military camp
Kfar Etzion massacre
Kfar Etzion massacre
Kalya