The village of Malkishua is located on Malkishua Mountain – the highest peak in the Gilboa mountain range. The origin of the name “Malchishua” is after one of the sons of King Saul who fell on Gilboa during his war with the Philistines. (1 Samuel, chapter 11, verse 2)
Malkishua was established as an Nahal holding in 1976, the second settlement on Mount Gilboa after Kibbutz Ma’ale Gilboa located on a more northern peak. Malkishua was saved in 1982 as a kibbutz belonging to the religious kibbutz movement.

In 1990, the National Anti-Drug Authority, together with the Beit She’an Valley Regional Council (now the Valley of the Springs), initiated the construction of the rehabilitation village on the site of the old kibbutz. In November 1990, the first patients were admitted to Malchishua. In March 1991, the Neve Malkishua Association was registered and became the official body operating the village. The first community is intended for graduates and victims of addiction who are citizens of the State of Israel. The community grew rapidly and within about three years of its establishment numbered 70 patients. In addition, hostels were opened in the cities for the absorption of community graduates in Malchishua as frameworks for the transition to a new path and independent living. In 1995, the youth community was established as a national first response for boys and girls affected by addiction, the community was built and operated according to a unique treatment model adapted to youth. Subsequently, additional communities were established – a diagnostic unit for youth, a youth community, a unit for women, a unit for girls, and a unit for physical rehabilitation for youth and young people. Educational-therapeutic homes for girls, in the kibbutzim of the Maayanut Valley, and hostels for graduates of the various communities. The village has a research unit in collaboration with the University of Haifa, as well as a center for information and prevention in the field of addictions, combining foreign activity (O.D.T) and challenging activities.