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Ness Ziona
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Ness Ziona (Nes Tziyona) is a city in the Center District of Israel in Israel. The city was founded in 1883. At the end of 2007 the city had a total population of 32,500, and its jurisdiction was 15,579 dunams.
Ziona (lit. "Banner to Zion") was founded in 1883. The current name comes from Jeremiah 4:6, although the city was formerly known as Nahalat Reuben, after its founder Reuben Lehrer.
In 1878, the Templer Reisler purchased lands in the area, called Wadi al-Khanin (wadi of flowers), planted an orchard, and lived there with his family.
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Encyclopedia
Ness Ziona (Nes Tziyona) is a city in the Center District of Israel in Israel. The city was founded in 1883. At the end of 2007 the city had a total population of 32,500, and its jurisdiction was 15,579 dunams.
History
Founding and name
Ness Ziona (lit. "Banner to Zion") was founded in 1883. The current name comes from Jeremiah 4:6, although the city was formerly known as Nahalat Reuben, after its founder Reuben Lehrer.
In 1878, the Templer Reisler purchased lands in the area, called Wadi al-Khanin (wadi of flowers), planted an orchard, and lived there with his family. After his wife and children died of malaria, he decided to return to Europe. He travelled to Odessa in 1882 and met Reuben Lehrer, a Russian Jew with Zionist ideals, who owned farmland there. Reisler traded his parcel of land in Palestine for Lehrer's land in Russia. Lehrer made aliyah with his eldest child Moshe in 1883 and renovated the abandoned property left by Reisler, and in 1884 brought his wife and 7 children. He named the orchard Nahalat Reuben ("Reuben's Estate").
Lehrer invited others to settle near his orchard and work there by placing advertisements in and near the Port of Jaffa. Soon, more settlers came to Nahalat Reuben and built a neighborhood, which they named Tel Aviv (Tel Aviv did not yet exist). However, both Jews and Arabs generally still referred to the entire area by its Arabic name, Wadi al-Khanin. In 1888, Avraham Yalovsky, a settler of Ness Ziona and a smith, was killed defending his property from Arab gangs. This is considered the first Jewish murder at the hands of the Arabs.
In 1891, Michael Halperin bought more lands in the wadi. He gathered a group of people on his land, on the Hill of Love, procured a blue and white flag similar to the Flag of Israel today, with Ness Ziona ("a flag/banner to Zion") written in gold. Halperin became the first person to wave a blue and white Zionist flag, before a similar version was accepted by the First Zionist Congress 7 years later. Haperin thus converted the area's name to Ness Ziona.
During the Yishuv's conflicts
Ness Ziona saw incessant attacks from Arab forces both in the 1936-39 Arab Revolt, and the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, due in part to its proximity to then-Arab Lydda and Ramla, as well as smaller localities such as Sarafand al-Kharab and Sarafand al-'Amr. The outlying villages of Kfar Aharon and Tirat Shalom (both now part of Ness Ziona) frequently exchanged fire with the Arab villages al-Qubayba and Zarnuqa (now western Rehovot).
Most of Ness Ziona's fighting youth joined the Haganah to fight off these threats. On May 15, 1948, Sarafand was evacuated by the Arabs, and on May 19, al-Qubayba and Zarnuqa were conquered by the Givati Brigade. This signified the end of fighting in Ness Ziona's immediate vicinity, although its youth continued fighting in the Haganah and later the IDF. Much of the territory abandoned by the fleeing Arab residents of nearby villages was added to Ness Ziona, increasing its size from 8 kmē to about 15.3 kmē immediately after the war.
Post-1948
During the war, Ness Ziona's population almost tripled to become 4,446 (according to an October 23, 1949 survey), and until 1950 the local council absorbed 9,000 olim, most of whom were housed in ma'abarot. The massive influx of residents severely undermined Ness Ziona's economy, which was mostly based on seasonal agriculture and wasn't fit to employ thousands of new workers. This caused heavy demonstrations and strikes, until in 1952 a new industrial zone was approved for the town on an area of 70 dunams. In 1955, a second industrial zone was approved.
Today
Originally an agricultural community, Ness Ziona is now a magnet for Tel Aviv residents searching for homes outside the city. Its rural character has been preserved by urban planning that eschews skyscrapers and buildings higher than eight floors. Property values have risen by 30 percent in recent years.
Geography
Ness Ziona is located on the Israeli coastal plain approximately 10 km inland of the Mediterranean Sea, to the south of Tel Aviv. The city is bordered to the north by Israel's fourth largest city, Rishon LeZion, to the east by Be'er Ya'akov, and to the south by Rehovot. The villages Beit Hanan, Beit Oved, Ayanot and Netzer Sereni also border the city.
Neighborhoods
Ness Ziona is composed of its central core, as well as several villages which joined its jurisdiction over the years and became neighborhoods. The city also has two industrial zones and a high-tech park called Kiryat Weizmann. The neighborhoods of Ness Ziona are as follows:
- Emek HaHadarim (Citrus Valley)
- Ganei Hadar (Citrus Gardens)
- Ganei Iris (Iris Gardens)
- Giv'at HaTor (Turtledove's Hill)
- Giv'at HaTzabar (Cactus Hill)
- Giv'at Nof
- HaEmek (The Valley)
- Kfar Aharon
- Neve Hadar
- Neve Karmit
- Neve Nir
- Lev HaMoshava (Heart of the Moshava)
- Pisgat Sela
- Ramat Ben Tzvi
- Ramat Semel
- Savyonei HaPark
- Sela
- Shmurat Malibu (Malibu Preserve)
- Tirat Shalom
- Yad Eliezer (Memorial to Eliezer)
Demographics
- See also: Population groups in Israel
According to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), in 2005 the ethnic makeup of the city was 99.6% Jewish and other non-Arabs, with 97.8% Jews and without a significant Arab population. At the end of 2004 there were 612 immigrants (2.2%), although this rose sharply to 7.8% in 2005.
In 2005 there were 14,400 males and 14,900 females. The population of the city was spread out with 31.8% 19 years of age or younger, 15.2% between 20 and 29, 21% between 30 and 44, 19.1% from 45 to 59, 3.1% from 60 to 64, and 9.7% 65 years of age or older. The population growth rate in 2006 was 5.8%.
As of 2005, in the city there were 11,830 salaried workers and 984 were self-employed. The mean monthly wage in 2005 for a salaried worker in the city was NIS 7,597, a 9.2% increase over the 2000 figure. Salaried males had a mean monthly wage of NIS 9,802 (an 8.4% increase) versus NIS 5,595 for females (a 14% increase). The mean income for the self-employed is 7,064. There are 290 people who receive unemployment benefits and 986 people who receive an income guarantee (welfare).
Economy
Ness Ziona is home to several research and technology companies. The Israel Institute for Biological Research (IIBR), a top-secret defense chemical and biological research institute with some 350 employees is based there, as is Zenith Solar, a solar energy company.
The Ness Ziona Municipality also includes the Kiryat Weizmann Science Park, which has been the breeding ground for many Israeli start-ups, such as Indigo, which was acquired by Hewlett-Packard in 2002, and manufactures high-end digital printing presses.
Education
According to CBS, there are 13 schools and 5,019 students in the city. They are spread out as 10 elementary schools and 2,821 elementary school students, and 4 high schools and 2,198 high school students. 62.9% of 12th grade students were entitled to a matriculation certificate in 2001.
Sport
The city has been represented in the top division of Israeli football by two different clubs; Maccabi Ness Ziona competed in the top flight in the first post-independence season. However, they lost all 24 games, and were relegated. A new club, Sektzia Ness Ziona was formed in 1956 and reached the top flight in 1966. However, they were relegated after only one season. After folding, they reformed as Ironi Ness Ziona in 2001, and since then have reverted to their former name and reached Liga Artzit, the third tier. The club plays at the Ness Ziona Stadium, which has also hosted Israel's U-19 team.
Transportation
Ness Ziona has two main roads - Highway 42 to the west (technically not in the city), and Road 412 (Weizmann Street), which goes through the city center and connects it to Rishon LeZion and Rehovot.
The Ness Ziona Central Bus Station is located on Weizmann Street, although as of 2008 it is operational only for buses heading north, while the platform for buses heading south was moved across the street.
The Tel Aviv-Ashkelon railway passes through Ness Ziona's jurisdiction, although there are no stations in the city. Three Israel Railways stations are in close proximity however - the Rehovot station to the south, Be'er Ya'akov station to the east and HaRishonim station to the north, on the Tel Aviv-Rishon LeZion line.
Sister cities
According to the Ness Ziona Municipality, the city has four sister cities:
External links
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