๐ฎ๐ฑ Netanya is a city in the Northern Central District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is 30 km north of Tel Aviv, and 56 km south of Haifa, between Poleg stream and Wingate Institute in the south and the Avihayil stream in the north. 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.
Its 14ย km (8.7ย mi) of beaches have made the city a popular tourist resort. In 2019, it had a population of 221,353, making it the 7th-largest city in Israel by population. An additional 150,000 people live in the local and regional councils within 10ย km (6ย mi) of Netanya, which serves as a regional centre for them.
Geography Netanya is located on the Israeli Mediterranean Coastal Plain, the historic land bridge between Europe, Africa, and Asia. The city is the capital of the Sharon plain, a geographic region stretching from the Mediterranean in the west to the Samarian hills in the east, and the modern day Tel Aviv metropolitan area in the south northwards to Mount Carmel. Although capital of a densely populated region, Netanya itself is relatively separate from settlements to the north, south, and east, though over time, growth has incorporated some into what makes up modern day Netanya.
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. Likewise, to the north is clear of large settlement until Hadera, and the east until Tulkarm in the West Bank. The area to the east of Netanya does, however, 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. At the centre of the park is a rainpool which fills up with water in the winter months, and dries up over the summer months. Signs along the rainpool include information on the types of flora and fauna which populate the ecosystem.
Kiryat Sanz In 1956 a beachfront in northern Netanya was selected as a home base for the Sanzer Hasidim by its leader, Rabbi Yekusiel Yehudah Halberstam. Halberstam established kindergartens, boys' and girls' schools, yeshivas, seminaries, synagogues, a children's home for orphaned and needy girls, an old-age home, and a hospital. In addition to religious services, Kiryat Sanz had a diamond polishing factory built by a New York diamond merchant. Halberstam established his court here in 1960. Following his death in 1994, his eldest son, Rabbi Zvi Elimelech Halberstam, known as the Sanzer Rebbe, became the spiritual leader of the Sanz community in Israel. In 2010, Kiryat Sanz had a population of approximately 1000 families. Most of the older generation are Holocaust survivors. Besides its educational facilities for boys and girls from elementary to post-graduate, there are five synagogues, a mikveh, a printing house, a religious hotel, a religious nursing school, and the Laniado Hospital, which encompasses two medical centres, a children's hospital, a geriatric centre and a nursing school, serving a regional population of over 450,000.
Economy Industry in Netanya is largely divided between four industrial parks. In the south of the city, the newest of these, Poleg, houses the first branch of IKEA in Israel as well as many technology companies, such as Ceedo and LogiTag. Tourism also plays a fairly major part in Netanya's economy with some 19 hotels in the city having 1,452 rooms. On average, this creates some 589 jobs. The hotels had an average occupancy rate of 51.7% in 2006. Netanya's long seashore and many beaches have created a holiday industry, which in turn features resort hotels, restaurants, and malls.
Urban development Several of the tallest buildings in Israel are located in Netanya. The construction of eight new skyscrapers, six of them over 30 stories, was approved in 2011. Dozens of 40โ42-story skyscrapers have been planned, many of them along the shore.
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. As part of the plan, the intention of the municipality is for the city's population to reach 320,000 by 2035.
The city seeks to become a major tourist hub for local and overseas tourism, with an "Israeli Riviera" on the shore. Among the projects planned in 2013 was the construction of 2,062 housing units and 1,100 hotel rooms while leaving much of the land as open space. The city has set itself a goal to expand open space from 56 to 70 percent. The plan is expected to attract more residents, boost hotel development, and increase the number of gardens and green spaces. It has been suggested that as the city's population expands, a light rail system may be built there in the future.
Netanya has a population of over 221,353 people. Netanya also forms one of the centres of the wider Central District which has a population of over 2,115,800 people.
To set up a UBI Lab for Netanya see: https://www.ubilabnetwork.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/UBILabNetwork
Twin Towns, Sister Cities Netanya has links with:
๐ฒ๐ฝ Acapulco, Mexico ๐ฌ๐ช Batumi, Georgia ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ Bournemouth, England ๐จ๐ณ Changzhou, China ๐ฎ๐น Como, Italy ๐ฉ๐ช Dortmund, Germany ๐ท๐บ Gelendzhik, Russia ๐ฉ๐ช Giessen, Germany ๐ฆ๐บ Gold Coast, Australia ๐ท๐ด Iaศi, Romania ๐ซ๐ท Nice, France ๐ต๐ฑ Nowy Sฤ cz, Poland ๐จ๐ฟ Podฤbrady, Czech Republic ๐ซ๐ท Sarcelles, France ๐จ๐ณ Siming District, China ๐ญ๐บ Siรณfok, Hungary ๐ณ๐ด Stavanger, Norway ๐บ๐ธ Sunny Isles Beach, USA ๐จ๐ณ Xiamen, China๐บ๐ธ Montgomery 32.35
๐บ๐ธ Springfield 32.367
๐ฒ๐ฆ Beni Mellal 32.333
๐ฒ๐ฝ Rosarito Beach 32.333
๐บ๐ธ Las Cruces 32.316
๐ต๐ฐ Jauharabad 32.283
๐ฎ๐ฑ Petah Tikva 34.881
๐ฎ๐ฑ Hod HaSharon 34.883
๐ฎ๐ฑ Drom HaSharon 34.9
๐ฎ๐ฑ Rosh HaโAyin 34.95
Locations Near: Netanya 34.8671,32.3432
๐ฎ๐ฑ Hadera 34.926,32.437 d: 11.8
๐ฎ๐ฑ Ra'anana 34.885,32.188 d: 17.4
๐ฎ๐ฑ Kfar Saba 34.91,32.176 d: 19
๐ฎ๐ฑ Herzliya 34.841,32.164 d: 20.1
๐ฎ๐ฑ Hod HaSharon 34.883,32.15 d: 21.5
๐ฎ๐ฑ Drom HaSharon 34.9,32.133 d: 23.5
๐ฎ๐ฑ Petah Tikva 34.881,32.09 d: 28.2
๐ฎ๐ฑ Bene Beraq 34.833,32.083 d: 29.1
Antipodal to: Netanya -145.133,-32.343
๐ต๐ซ Papeete -149.566,-17.537 d: 18309.7
๐ฆ๐ธ Pago Pago -170.701,-14.279 d: 16737.1
๐น๐ด Nuku'alofa -175.216,-21.136 d: 16792.6
๐ผ๐ธ Apia -171.76,-13.833 d: 16619
๐บ๐ธ Hilo -155.089,19.725 d: 14129.2
๐บ๐ธ Maui -156.446,20.72 d: 13993.2
๐บ๐ธ Kahului -156.466,20.891 d: 13974.1
๐บ๐ธ Maui County -156.617,20.868 d: 13973.5