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Petah Tikva

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<tr> <td>Name meaning</td> <td>Opening of hope</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Founded in</td> <td>1878</td> </tr>

<tr> <td>Standard Hebrew</td> <td>Pétaḥ Tiqwa</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Officially also spelled</td> <td>Petah Tiqwa</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Unofficially also spelled</td> <td>Petach Tikvah</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Mayor</td> <td>Yitzhak Ochion</td> </tr>
Petah Tikva
Hebrew פֶּתַח תִּקְוָה
Government City (from 1937)
District Center
Population 179,400 (CBS end of 2005)
Jurisdiction 39,000 dunams (39 km²)
Image:PetachTikwa.jpg

Petah Tikva, (Hebrew: פֶּתַח תִּקְוָה, the Opening of Hope) nicknamed the Mother of Settlements, is a city in the west of the Center District of Israel, north-east of Tel Aviv. Petah Tikva's jurisdiction covers 39,000 dunams (39 km² or 15 mi²). The population density is 4,600 people per km². According to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), as of December 31, 2005, the city's population stood at 179,400, growing at an annual rate of 1.8%.

Contents

[edit] History

Petah Tikva was founded in 1878 by religious pioneers from Jerusalem, who were led by Yehoshua Stampfer, Yoel-Moshe Salomon, Zerach Brant and David Gutmann as well as Lithuanian Rabbi Aryeh Leib Frumkin. It was the first modern Jewish agricultural settlement in Ottoman Palestine and has since grown to become one of Israel's most populous urban centres.

Originally intending to establish a new settlement in the Achor Valley, near Jericho, the pioneers purchased land in that area. They chose the name for their settlement from the prophecy of Hosea (2:15), "And I will give her vineyards from thence, and the Valley of Achor for an opening of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt." However, the Turkish Sultan cancelled the purchase and forbade them from settling there, but they retained the name Petah Tikva as a symbol of their aspirations.

Undaunted, the settlers purchased a modest area (3.40 square kilometers) from the village of Mulabbis (variants: Mlabbes, Um-Labbes), near the source of the Yarqon River. The Sultan allowed the enterprise to proceed, but because their purchase was located in what was a malarial swamp, they had to evacuate when the malaia spread, founding the town of Yehud near the Arabic village Yehudiyya about 20 kilometers to the south. With the financial help of Baron Edmond de Rothschild they were able to drain the swamps sufficiently to be able to move back in 1883, joined by immigrants of the First Aliyah, and later the Second Aliyah.

During World War I, Petah Tikva served as a refugee town for residents of Tel Aviv and Jaffa, following their exile by the Turkish authorities due to their refusal to serve the Turkish army to fight the invading British forces. The town suffered heavily as it lay between the Turkish and British fronts during the war.

Petah Tikva became the school for thousands of pioneer workers, who studied the craft of farming there before they ventured out to establish dozens of settlements in all parts of the country. The agricultural schools are still active to this day.

Petah Tikva was also the birthplace of the Labor Zionist Movement, inspired and encouraged by the writings of A. D. Gordon who lived in Petah Tikva before moving to Degania in the Galilee.

In the 1930s, the pioneering founders of Kibbutz Yavneh from the Religious Zionist movement immigrated to the British Mandate of Palestine, settling near Petah Tikva on land purchased by a Jewish-owned German company. Refining the agricultural skills they learned in Germany, these pioneers began in 1941 to build their kibbutz in its intended location in the south of Israel, operating from Petah Tikva as a base.

In the beginning of the 1920s Petah Tikva began to urbanise, including the development of industrial zones. In 1921, Petah Tikva was given the status of a local council by the British authorities, and in 1937 it was recognized as a city. Its first mayor, Shlomo Stampfer, was the son of one of its founders, Yehoshua Stampfer.

After the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, several adjoining villages - Amishav and Ein Ganim to the east, Kiryat Matalon to the west, towards Bnei Brak, Kfar Ganim and Machaneh Yehudah to the south and Kfar Avraham on the north - were merged into the municipal boundaries of Petah Tikva, giving it a significant population boost to 22,000.

[edit] Economy

Petah Tikva has the second largest industrial sector in Israel (after Haifa), divided among three Industrial Zones - Kiryat Arye, Kiryat Matalon, and Segula. Its industries include textiles, metal works, wood works, plastics, processed foods, tires and other rubber products, and soap. In the last few years many hi-tech enterprises have moved into Petah Tikva's industrial zone, including the Israeli headquarters for the Oracle Corporation, ECI Telecom, and GlaxoSmithKline Pharmecuticals.

The main factory of the giant food processing company Osem was built in 1976 in Petah Tikva, and the company's administration offices, distribution center and the sauce factory are now located there as well.

There are still extensive citrus groves and truck farms on the outskirts of the city, and building stone is quarried near the eastern side.

[edit] Transportation

While Petah Tikva is not a major center of transportation due to major hubs such as Tel Aviv being too close to it, it still hosts several dozen intercity bus lines from the Egged Bus Cooperative, and has a well-developed inner network of local bus transport serviced by the Kavim company. The city bus lines to the nearest cities of Ramat Gan, Bnei Brak and Tel Aviv are serviced by the Dan Bus Company.

Petah Tikva's largest bus terminal is the Petah Tikva Central Bus Station, while other major stations are located near Beilinson Hospital and Beit Rivka. A rapid transit/light rail system is in the works which will connect Petah Tikva to Bnei Brak, Ramat Gan, Tel Aviv and Bat Yam.

Israel Railways maintains a suburban railroad station in Segula, on the north-western edge of the city, with trains available to Kfar Saba, Rosh HaAyin, Bnei Brak, Tel Aviv, Lod, Be'er Ya'aqov, Rishon LeZion, Ramla, Bet Shemesh, and Jerusalem.

There are eight taxi fleets based in Petah Tikva, and the city is bordered by three of the major vehicle arteries in Israel: the Geha Highway (Highway 4) on the west, the Trans-Samaria Highway (Highway 5) on the north, and the Trans-Israel Highway (Highway 6) on the east.

Petah Tikva is less than half an hour's drive away from Israel's major international airport, the Ben Gurion International Airport near Lod.

[edit] Leaders

In 1880, a 7-member council was elected by the residents to administrate Petah Tikva. The initial council members, from 1880 to 1921, were:

In 1921, Petah Tikva's government was given the status of an autonomous local council, and in 1937 of a city. Following are the heads of local council (1921-1937) and mayors (1937-date) of Petah Tikva.

TypeNameYears
Head of council Shlomo Zalman Gisin 1921
Head of council Pinchas Meiri 1922-1928
Head of council Shlomo Stampfer 1928-1937
Mayor Shlomo Stampfer 1938-1940
Mayor Yosef Sapir 1940-1950
Mayor Mordechai Kraufman 1951
Mayor Pinchas Rashish 1951-1966
Mayor Yisrael Feinberg 1966-1978
Mayor Dov Tavori 1978-1989
Mayor Giora Lev 1989-1999
Mayor Yitzhak Ochion 1999-date

[edit] Religious facilities

Petah Tikva boasts over 280 synagogues of all kinds, and five mikvaot (ritual baths) throughout the city. There are two major Haredi yeshivot, Lundge Yeshiva and Or-Yisrael (founded by the Chazon Ish, Rabbi Avraham Yeshayahu Karelitz), as well as Yeshivat Hesder Petach Tikva, which is a modern-orthodox Hesder Yeshiva affiliated with Religious Zionism, led by Rabbi Yuval Sherlo. There are two cemeteries on the outskirts of the city, the Segula Cemetery on the east and the newer, Yarkon Cemetery to the north-west.

[edit] Education

Holding over 300 educational institutions, from kindergarten up to high school level, Petah Tikva provides a wide variety of educational institutions - secular, religious and Haredi. There are over 43,000 students in the city, with about 2,400 teachers.

In 2006, 5 schools also participated in the Mofet education program.[citation needed]

[edit] Terrorism

During the Al-Aqsa Intifada, Petah Tikva suffered three terrorist attacks.

  • On May 27, 2002 a suicide bomber exploded himself outside a mall near a small coffee house, killing 2 civilians, one of whom was a baby. [1]
  • On December 25, 2003 a suicide bomber blew himself up on a bus stop near the Geha bridge, killing 4 civilians.[2]
  • On February 5, 2006 a Palestinian got into a Sherut taxi, pulled out a knife and began to stab the passengers. A civilian from a factory nearby picked up a log and subdued him. Two civilians died. [3]

[edit] Communications

[edit] Health

Petah Tikva has the most extensive health coverage of any city in Israel for the size of its population, with six hospitals:

  • The Rabin Medical Center[4]:
    • The Beilinson Campus
      • Beilinson Medical Center
      • Davidoff Oncologic Center
      • Geha Psychiatric Hospital
      • Schneider Pediatric Centre[5]
      • Tel Aviv University Medical Research Facility
    • The Golda Campus, containing HaSharon Hospital
  • Beit Rivka geriatric center
  • Institute for medical research of the General Health Insurance
  • Ramat Marpe Private Hospital - a division of the Asutta Hospital

The Schneider Pediatric Centre is the largest and most modern children's hospital in the Middle East. In addition, there are nearly 20 clinics for family health throughout the city and its suburbs, besides the many clinics of the different Health maintenance organizations.

[edit] Twinning

Sister cities of Petah Tikva:

[edit] Famous Petah Tikvans

[edit] Miscellaneous

Image:Picnickelodeon.jpg

  • The headquarters of the ruling Kadima political party is located in Petah Tikva.

[edit] External links


Coordinates: 32°05′N 34°53′E

Center District
Cities Hod HaSharon · Kfar Saba · Lod · Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut · Ness Ziona · Netanya · Petah Tikva · Qalansawe · Ra'anana · Ramla · Rehovot · Rishon LeZion · Rosh HaAyin · Tayibe · Tira · Yavne · Yehud-Monosson Image:Israel center dist.png
Local councils Be'er Ya'aqov · Beit Dagan · Bnei Aish · El'ad · Elyakhin · Even Yehuda · Gan Yavne · Gedera · Giv'at Shmuel · Jaljulia · Kafr Qasim · Kfar Bara · Kefar Yona · Kokhav Ya'ir · Mazkeret Batya · Pardesiya · Qiryat Ekron · Ramot Hashavim · Savyon · Shoham · Tel Mond · Tzoran-Kadima · Zemer
Regional councils Brenner · Gan Rave · Gederot · Gezer · Drom Hasharon · Hefer Valley · Hevel Modi'in · Hevel Yavne · Hof HaSharon · Lev HaSharon · Lod Valley · Nachal Soreq
Boroughs Neve Monosson
ar:بتاه تكفاه

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