The kibbutz, situated a short distance from the Lebanese border, was established in 1938 on 400 dunams of land in "Khirbet Samak", which had been purchased by the Jewish National Fund. It was settled that year by a group of Polish immigrants and Palestinian Jews. The inhabitants found themselves under constant fire in the wake of the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine. Eilon was one of the early tower and stockade settlements.