Editing Netanya (section)

==History==
Before the 20th century, parts of Netanya belonged to the Forest of [[Sharon plain|Sharon]], a hallmark of the region's historical landscape. It was an open [[woodland]] dominated by Mount Tabor Oak ([[Quercus ithaburensis]]), which extended from [[Kfar Yona]] in the north to [[Ra'anana]] in the south. Arabs who lived in the area used it for [[pasture]], [[firewood]] and intermittent [[Agriculture|cultivation]]. The intensification of settlement and agriculture in the [[Israeli coastal plain|coastal plain]] during the 19th century led to [[deforestation]] and subsequent [[environmental degradation]] known from [[Hebrew literature|Hebrew sources]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Marom |first=Roy |date=2022-12-01 |title=יער‬ ‫השרון (אל-ע'אבה) בתקופה העות'מאנית:‬ ‫בתקופה‬ ‫מהמחקר‬ ‫חדשות‬ ‫תובנות‬ ‫הגיאוגרפי-היסטורי The Oak Forest of the Sharon (al-Ghaba) in the Ottoman Period: New Insights from Historical- Geographical Studies |url=https://www.academia.edu/93207554 |journal=Muse |volume=5 |pages=90–107}}</ref>

[[File:VIEW OF NETANYA. מראה כללי של היישוב נתניה.D25-059.jpg|thumb|Netanya in 1936]]
Netanya was established near the ancient site of [[Poleg]] by the Bnei Binyamin association in [[Zikhron Ya'akov]].<ref name="history" /> It was named in honor of [[Nathan Straus|Nathan (Hebrew: ''Natan'') Straus]] (1848–1931),<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2xArAAAAMAAJ&q=netanya+nathan+straus |page=270 |title=The New Encyclopædia Britannica |volume=7 |first=William |last=Benton |year=1974 |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica (UK) Ltd |isbn=978-0-85229-290-7 |access-date=August 22, 2017 |archive-date=March 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220327060628/https://books.google.com/books?id=2xArAAAAMAAJ&q=netanya+nathan+straus |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Teller" /> co-owner of [[Macy's]] department store,<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/568492/Nathan-Straus |title=Nathan Straus |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Britannica Online |year=2012 |access-date=February 7, 2012 |archive-date=March 9, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309022942/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/568492/Nathan-Straus |url-status=live}}</ref> [[New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|New York City Parks Commissioner]], and president of the [[Metropolitan Board of Health|New York City Board of Health]],<ref name="virtual">{{cite web |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Nathan_Straus.html |title=Nathan Straus (1848–1931) |publisher=Jewish Virtual Library |year=2012 |access-date=February 7, 2012 |archive-date=March 12, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120312093321/http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Nathan_Straus.html |url-status=live}}</ref> who gifted two-thirds of his personal fortune to projects benefiting Jews and [[Arab people|Arabs]] in [[Mandatory Palestine]].<ref name="Teller">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iisia4aFPQ4C&q=netanya+nathan+straus&pg=PA349 |title=A Midrash and a Maaseh |first=Hanoch |last=Teller |author-link=Hanoch Teller |page=349 |publisher=NYC Publishing Co |year=1996 |isbn=978-1-881939-09-2 |access-date=October 25, 2020 |archive-date=March 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220327060705/https://books.google.com/books?id=iisia4aFPQ4C&q=netanya+nathan+straus&pg=PA349 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="virtual" /><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E6wKAQAAIAAJ&q=health+center |title=Everyman's Judaica: An encyclopedic dictionary |page=574 |first=Geoffrey |last=Wigoder |year=1975 |publisher=W.H. Allen / Virgin Books |isbn=978-0-491-01604-9}}</ref> "Netanya...was named for Straus in the hope he would donate money to them. When he told them he had no more money to give they were disappointed, but decided to keep the city's name anyway."<ref>[http://www.straushistoricalsociety.org/uploads/1256842256nwsltr809.pdf] {{dead link|date=February 2013}}</ref><ref>Benzaquen, John. [https://www.jpost.com/metro/lifestyle/neighborhood-watch-looking-east "Neighborhood Watch: Looking east"], ''[[The Jerusalem Post]]'', May 31, 2012. Retrieved August 5, 2023. "Netanya was named for Straus in the hope that he would donate money to the Bnei Binyamin association. Unfortunately for the association, by the time it asked him for financial help, it was too late, as he and his wife had already donated most of their fortune to charities in Palestine and the US."</ref>
[[File:PikiWiki Israel 17378 Fountain in Independence Square in Netanya.JPG|thumb|The fountain in the Independence Square. In 2012 it was moved to the west and an interactive electronic fountain was erected in its place]]
The funds for the project of building Netanya were raised by [[Itamar Ben-Avi]] and [[Oved Ben-Ami]], who embarked on a fundraising trip to the United States to raise the money. In 1928 members of Bnei Binyamin and Hanotea, an organisation set up after Straus was informed of the establishment of the settlement, purchased {{cvt|350|acre|km2}} of [[Umm Khaled]] lands.<ref name="history" /> On December 14, 1928, a team led by Moshe Shaked began digging for water at the site. After water was discovered in February 1929, the first five settlers moved onto the land. In the weeks that followed, more settlers began arriving. Development was set back due to the [[1929 Palestine riots]] and massacre of Jews. By September, however, development was back on track with the cornerstones for the first 10 houses being laid on [[Sukkot]].<ref name="history" />

The first kindergarten opened in 1930 and the first school in 1931. In the [[1931 census of Palestine]], Netanya was recorded as having 253 residents. In 1933, the British architect [[Clifford Holliday]] drew up a plan for Netanya as a tourist resort. Holliday also designed urban projects in [[Jaffa]], [[Tiberias]], [[Lod|Lydda]] and [[Ramla]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-zk7q25Nw4kC&q=clifford%20holliday%20netanya&pg=PA17 |title=The Jewish-Arab city: spatio-politics in a mixed community. |author=Yacobi Haim |year=2009 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-203-87969-6 |access-date=October 25, 2020 |archive-date=March 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220327060753/https://books.google.com/books?id=-zk7q25Nw4kC&q=clifford+holliday+netanya&pg=PA17 |url-status=live }}</ref> The first [[Urban planning|urban plan]] divided the city into three sections with a tourism district along the coastline, housing, farms and commerce in the center, and agriculture and industry to the east. That year also saw the completion of the Tel Aviv Hotel, the first hotel in Netanya, as well as the establishment of two new neighborhoods, Ben Zion and Geva.<ref name="history" />

In 1934, the first [[Aliyah Bet]] ship arrived at the shores of Netanya, carrying 350 immigrants. By 1939, over seventeen more ships had followed. An industrial zone was established, and the first synagogue and school was built.<ref name="history" />

In 1937 the cornerstone was laid for a new commercial center and the connection of Netanya to the Tel Aviv-Haifa road. In 1939, the Ophir diamond polishing plant, the first diamond polishing plant in Palestine, was opened by Asher Daskall and Zvi Rosenberg.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://en.israelidiamond.co.il/wikidiamond/diamond-industry-figures/oved-ben-ami/ |title=Oved Ben Ami – was awarded the title of Diamond Industry Dignitary |website=Israeli Diamond |access-date=August 19, 2020 |archive-date=December 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205090730/https://en.israelidiamond.co.il/wikidiamond/diamond-industry-figures/oved-ben-ami/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://en.israelidiamond.co.il/history-diamond-industry-30s/ |title=The 30s At The Israeli Diamond Industry |website=Israeli Diamond |access-date=August 19, 2020 |archive-date=August 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808095710/https://en.israelidiamond.co.il/history-diamond-industry-30s/ |url-status=live}}</ref> In 1940, the [[Mandatory Palestine|British Mandate]] government defined Netanya as a [[Local council (Israel)|local council]] of which [[Oved Ben-Ami]] was elected head.<ref name="history" /> In 1944, Netanya had a population of 4,900. The first high school in Netanya opened in 1945.
[[File:בית חרושת לליטוש יהלומים בנתניה-JNF018823.jpeg|thumb|Netanya: diamond polishing factory 1945]]
During the [[Jewish insurgency in Palestine]], the Jewish underground group [[Irgun]] launched several attacks against British military and police forces in the Netanya area. The town itself was a bastion of support for the Irgun. The most infamous incident happened in July 1947, in what became known as the [[The Sergeants affair|Sergeants affair]]. After three Irgun fighters had been sentenced to death by the British, the Irgun abducted two British sergeants on a Netanya street, and hid them in an abandoned factory. The British responded by declaring martial law and placing Netanya and the surrounding area under curfew. The British Army searched the town and interrogated residents, but did not find the sergeants. After the three Irgun fighters were hanged, the Irgun hanged the two sergeants in the factory and re-hanged and booby-trapped their bodies in an orange grove.<ref>Bell, Bowyer J.: ''Terror out of Zion'' (1976)</ref>

In November 1947, an [[Egged Bus Cooperative|Egged]] bus driving from Netanya to Jerusalem was [[Fajja bus attacks|attacked]] in [[Petah Tikva]]. In 1948, following the withdrawal of British forces from Netanya and the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War|1948 Arab-Israeli War]], a large military base was established in the city.

On December 3, 1948, Netanya was declared a city in the newly established State of Israel.<ref name="history" />  Ramat Tiomkin, Ein Hatchlelet, Pardes Hagdud, and Ramat Ephraim were annexed to Netanya. At this time, Netanya had a population of 11,600.<ref name="spatial" />

The [[Kiryat Eliezer Kaplan Industrial Zone]] was inaugurated in 1949 and Neve Itamar, founded in 1944, was annexed to Netanya.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.netanya-moreshet.org.il/info/site_show.aspx?id=1203 |title=קריית אליעזר – אזור תעשיה
|access-date=August 26, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170826155748/http://www.netanya-moreshet.org.il/info/site_show.aspx?id=1203 |archive-date=August 26, 2017 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.bet-fisher.co.il/Info/hi_show.aspx?id=28199 |title=נווה איתמר|access-date=August 26, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170826154957/http://www.bet-fisher.co.il/Info/hi_show.aspx?id=28199 |archive-date=August 26, 2017 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all}}</ref>[[Netanya railway station]] opened in 1953.

With Israel experiencing a wave of Jewish immigration from Europe, elsewhere in the Middle East, and North Africa, Netanya's population expanded. In the years following independence, approximately 14,000 [[History of the Jews in Libya|Libyan Jewish immigrants]] settled in Netanya.<ref>Trevisan Semi, Emanuela, Miccoli, Dario, and Parfitt, Tudor: ''Memory and Ethnicity: Ethnic Museums in Israel and the Diaspora'', p. 93.</ref> The population reached 31,000 in 1955. To accommodate the influx of newcomers, the Israeli Housing Ministry built housing units of 50 square meters.<ref name="spatial">OECD: ''Spatial Planning and Policy in Israel The Cases of Netanya and Umm al-Fahm''</ref> The cornerstone of Kiryat Sanz, a religious neighborhood was laid in 1956. The first [[stock exchange]] built in Israel was built in Netanya.<ref name="history" /> By 1961, the city's population had grown to 41,300.

During the [[Six-Day War]] in 1967, Netanya was hit by Jordanian artillery, and Jordanian planes made sorties near Netanya, but failed to cause major damage. A lone Iraqi bomber attacked Netanya, dropping several bombs which damaged a factory and caused some casualties, shortly before being shot down. In 1972, Netanya had a population of 71,100.[[File:Kikar haatzmaut057.jpg|thumb|The Lily Fountain in Ha'Atsmaout Square in its first location (2010)]]In the 1990s, large numbers of immigrants from the former Soviet Union settled in Netanya, greatly expanding the city's population and resulting in large-scale housing construction.<ref name="spatial" />

Netanya suffered from several [[List of Palestinian suicide attacks|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.<ref>Jodi Rudoren. [https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/30/world/middleeast/remaking-a-life-after-years-in-an-israeli-prison.html?hp "Remaking a Life, After Years in an Israeli Prison"]. ''[[The New York Times]]''. March 29, 2014. {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160105220044/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/30/world/middleeast/remaking-a-life-after-years-in-an-israeli-prison.html?hp |date=January 5, 2016}}.</ref> Such attacks were cited as justification for the construction of the [[Israeli West Bank barrier]] which has proved effective in stemming suicide attacks.<ref>Isabel Kershner, [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/03/world/middleeast/03israel.html?mtrref=www.google.com&gwh=E2707919954B6CDCFB755F4FB2122588&gwt=pay&assetType=REGIWALL "Israeli Tactics Thwart Attacks, With Trade-Off"]. ''[[The New York Times]]''. May 3, 2008. {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200630052857/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/03/world/middleeast/03israel.html?mtrref=www.google.com&gwh=E2707919954B6CDCFB755F4FB2122588&gwt=pay&assetType=REGIWALL |date=June 30, 2020}}.</ref>

In the 2000s and 2010s, Netanya became one of the primary destinations of French Jewish [[aliyah]]. Thousands of French immigrants settled in Netanya, influencing the local culture.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4686286,00.html |title=Netanya: Israel's French capital |date=January 8, 2015 |website=Ynetnews |access-date=January 5, 2019 |archive-date=January 6, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190106012209/https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4686286,00.html |url-status=live}}</ref>