20 Facts About Netanya

Netanya is a city in the Northern Central District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain.

Netanya was named in honor of Nathan Straus, a prominent Jewish American merchant and philanthropist in the early 20th century who was the co-owner of Macy's department store.

Netanya was established near the ancient site of Poleg by the Bnei Binyamin association in Zikhron Ya'akov.

On December 3,1948, after fighting in the area had calmed down, Netanya was designated a city, the first city to be designated in the newly established State of Israel.

Netanya suffered from several Palestinian bombings during the Second Intifada, including the Netanya Market bombing and, in the same month, the Passover massacre which caused the death of 29 people.

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That same year, 90,200 of the residents of Netanya were born in Israel, whilst 71,300 were born abroad.

Netanya is the center of the Persian Jewish community of Israel.

Netanya is located on the Israeli Mediterranean Coastal Plain, the historic land bridge between Europe, Africa, and Asia.

Apart from some small moshavim and kibbutzim, south of Netanya is relatively clear of settlement until Herzliya and the start of the Gush Dan, Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area.

The area to the east of Netanya does have a large concentration of kibbutzim and moshavim in the Hefer Valley Regional Council and local councils of Kfar Yona and Even Yehuda.

Netanya itself is divided into a large number of neighborhoods, recently growing southwards out of the city to create a number of high-end coastal neighborhoods with industrial areas inland.

Netanya is home to the Poleg nature reserve and the Irises Dora Rainpool nature park containing the world's largest population of iris atropurpurea.

In 1956 a beachfront in northern Netanya was selected as a home base for the Sanzer Hasidim by its leader, Rabbi Yekusiel Yehudah Halberstam.

Beit Yehoshua railway station, located in the moshav of Beit Yehoshua, immediately south of Netanya, is convenient for getting to southern Netanya and to the Poleg Industrial Area.

All Israel Railways stations, including Ben Gurion Airport, can be accessed from Netanya by means of transfer stations such as Binyamina and Tel Aviv.

In June 2016, a street in Netanya was named for Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara, who was responsible for saving Lithuanian Jews from Nazi persecution early in World War II through providing visas allowing travel eastwards, beyond the reach of the Third Reich's genocidal grasp.

Netanya has three football teams, the main being Maccabi Netanya, whose main local rival is Beitar Nes Tubruk.

Elitzur Netanya represents the city in the first tier of Israeli basketball.

Netanya was scheduled to host the 2015 European Short Course Swimming Championships in December.

Netanya is developing according to master plans for 2035 which seek to massively increase residential units and office space in the city, as well as a new marina and piers.