Kibbutz Ein Gedi is a desert oasis situated on the shores of the Dead Sea, in the Negev desert. The earliest evidence of settlement at Ein Gedi is the remains of a Calcolithique period (600 B.C.E), through the Byzantive period (600 A.D). Many archeological finds in the area include a settlement from Biblical times, an ancient synagogue with writings and mosaics, a Roman bath house and others. Ein Gedi dwellers are mentioned on Bar-Kochba letters found in caves on the slopes of Wadi Hever.

Ein Gedi was mentioned by King David in the "Song of Songs", and since the sixth century, it was abandoned and there was no permanent settlement until the Ein Gedi pioneers arrived in 1956.

At the beginning, the young kibbutz and the outside world were linked only by a rough dirt road. A bus arrived only once a week. The nearest communities were that of Dimona and Beer Sheva. During the first 20 years, the kibbutz economy was based on winter agriculture using the favourable climate. Tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers, onions and other vegetables were grown. A vineyard and a date plantation completed the economic base.

As a result of the Six Day Way, Ein Gedi's isolation ended. In 1972, a highway was built to the north, leading to Jerusalem, the Jordan Valley and to the North. This brought major changes to Ein Gedi, because the kibbutz was from then on connected to the rest of Israel. The kibbutz became accessible  and became a major center for tourism and outdoor activity.  At the same period, other desert settlements began to grow winter vegetables, and Ein Gedi lost the exclusivity it enjoyed in the market. As a consequence, tourism gradually became a major industry, today providing 75 percent of the kibbutz' economic activity.

The kibbutz population is today constituted of almost 300 members. No visitor can stay untouched by the beauty of Ein Gedi. Ein Gedi's pioneers' dream has seen the day. The force of men struggling against nature has changed a desertic spot into a flourishing oasis, with flowering trees, greens and palmtrees. The once isolated settlement has become a place visited every year by thousands of visitors. Ein Gedi's founders have the merit to say that they wrote a unique chapter in Israel's history and rebirth.