Kibbutz Ein Gev, named after the nearby Arab village Al-Nuqayb, came into being on 6 July 1937 during the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine as a "tower and stockade" settlement, a common debut for many kibbutzim during that era, and quickly established itself as a viable community. The original settlers were immigrants from Czechoslovakia, Germany, Austria, and the Baltic countries. Using intensive cultivation methods, they developed banana plantations. They also fished the nearby Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee). By 1947 it had a population of 450.