Petahya is a moshav

Moshav

Moshav is a type of Israeli town or settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists during the second aliyah...

 in central Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

. Located in the Shephelah

Shephelah

The Shephelah is a designation usually applied to the region in south-central Israel of 10-15 km of low hills between the central Mount Hebron and the coastal plains of Philistia within the area of the Judea, at an altitude of 120-450 metres above sea level. The area is fertile, and a temperate...

 near Mazkeret Batya

Mazkeret Batya

Mazkeret Batya is a town in the center of Israel located southeast of Rehovot and from Tel-Aviv. Mazkeret Batya spans an area of 7,440 dunams . In December 2008, it had a population of 9,900. The mayor of Mazkeret Batya is Meir Dahan.-History:Mazkeret Batya was established on November 7, 1883 by...

, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gezer Regional Council

Gezer Regional Council

Gezer Regional Council is a regional council in the Center District of Israel. Established in 1949, it had a population of 20,700 in 2006.-List of settlements:The council covers five kibbutzim, 15 moshavim and five communal settlementsKibbutzim...

. In 2006 it had a population of 729.

The moshav was founded in 1951 on the land of the abandoned Arab

Palestinian people

The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...

 village of al-Na'ani

Al-Na'ani

Al-Na'ani was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Ramle. It was depopulated during the 1948 War on May 14, 1948 by the Givati Brigade of Operation Barak. It was located 6 km south of Ramle....

, whose residents had fled to the Ramallah

Ramallah

Ramallah is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank located 10 kilometers north of Jerusalem, adjacent to al-Bireh. It currently serves as the de facto administrative capital of the Palestinian National Authority...

 area, Jerusalem and Jordan

Jordan

Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...

 during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War

1948 Arab-Israeli War

The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, known to Israelis as the War of Independence or War of Liberation The war commenced after the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the creation of an independent Israel at midnight on 14 May 1948 when, following a period of civil war, Arab armies invaded...

. Initially named Gezer 10, its founders were immigrants

Jewish exodus from Arab lands

The Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries was a mass departure, flight and expulsion of Jews, primarily of Sephardi and Mizrahi background, from Arab and Muslim countries, from 1948 until the early 1970s...

 from the Tunisian youth movement HaNoar HaTzioni

Hanoar Hatzioni

Hanoar Hatzioni is a youth movement established in 1926, with its head offices now in Israel. Its three main pillars are Judaism, Pluralism, and Zionism...

. They were later joined by immigrants from Algeria

Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...

 and India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. Today most of its residents work in vineyard

Vineyard

A vineyard is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice...

s.