The land on which the kibbutz stands was purchased in 1914 by the Jewish National Fund from landowners in the neighboring village of Abu Ghosh. In 1919 a group of 25 pioneers from the Ukrainian town of Zhvanitz settled on the land, near a small spring called "Dilb." By the end of 1920], there were 200 pioneers on the kibbutz. In 1924, another group, Gordonia, arrived from Galicia, Poland. On November 9, 1937, five members of Kiryat Anavim were killed by terrorists (Kibbutz Ma'ale HaHamisha, lit. Hill of the Five, was named for them).