| Kfar Saba | |||
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| Hebrew transcription(s) | |||
| • Hebrew | כְּפַר סָבָא | ||
| • ISO 259 | Kfar Sabaˀ | ||
| • Translit. | Kfar Sava | ||
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Kfar Saba
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| Coordinates: | |||
| District | |||
| Founded | 1903 | ||
| Government | |||
| • Type | City (from 1962) | ||
| • Mayor | Yehuda Ben-Hamo | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 14,169 dunams (14.2 km2 / 5.5 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2009)[1] | |||
| • Total | 83,600 | ||
| Name meaning | Grandfather's village/Saba's village | ||
| Website | www.kfar-saba.muni.il (Hebrew) | ||
Kfar Saba (Hebrew: כְּפַר סָבָא, lit. "Grandfather's Village"), officially Kfar Sava, is a city in the Sharon region, of the Center District of Israel. At the end of 2009, Kfar Saba had a population of 83,600.[1]
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Kfar Saba (ancient Capharsaba) was an important settlement during the Second Temple period,[2][3] and is mentioned for the first time in the writings of Josephus, in his account of the attempt of Alexander Jannaeus to halt an invasion from the North led by Antiochus (Antiquities, book 13, chapter 15). Kfar Saba also appears in the Talmud in connection to corn tithing and the Capharsaba sycamore fig tree.[2] The settlement was probably named after a person called Sava, though this person's importance is not known.[3]
Excavations on the site have revealed the remains of a large Roman bathhouse. In the Byzantine periods the ruins of the bathhouse were first converted into fish pools, and later into some form of industrial installation.[4]
In 1596, the Arab village of Kafr Saba was inhabited by 42 Muslim families.[5]In the 1870s it was described as "a mud village of moderate size with mud-ponds around it and good water in the wells of Neby Yemin, to the east."[6] The Jewish town of Kfar Saba was established in 1898 on 7,500 dunams of land purchased from the Arab village.[7] Despite attractive advertisements in Jerusalem and London, attempts to sell plots to private individuals were unsuccessful, as the land was located in a desolate, neglected area far from any other Jewish settlement.[3] The Ottoman pasha of Nablus, to whose governorate the land belonged, refused to give building permits, therefore the first settlers lived in huts made of clay and straw. They earned their living by growing almonds, grapes and olives. Most of the manual laborers on the land were peasants from Qalqilya. Only in 1912 were permits given and the settlers moved to permanent housing.[3]
In the Palestine campaign of World War I, Kfar Saba was on the front line between General Allenby's British Army and the Ottoman army, and was destroyed. At the same time about a thousand residents of Tel Aviv and Jaffa came to live in the town. They had been forcibly deported from their homes by the Ottomans.
Due to the Jaffa riots of 1921 these deportees returned to their original cities. In 1922 the original residents returned and in 1924 additional settlers joined them. In this period the cultivation of citrus fruit developed. The first elections for the local council were held.[8]
In the months leading up to the 1948 war, Kfar Saba was attacked by local militia from Arab Kafr Saba. The Arab Liberation Army (ALA), an army consisting of volunteers from several neighboring Arab countries, sent troops to aid in these attacks.[9] In 1962 Kfar Saba was awarded city status, with head of the local council, Mordechai Surkis, becoming its first mayor.[10]
Located just across the Green Line from Kalkilya, Kfar Saba has been a frequent target of terrorist attacks. In May 2001, a Palestinian Arab suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt killed a doctor and wounded 50 at a bus stop in Kfar Saba.[11] In March 2002, a Palestinian opened fire on passersby at a major intersection, killing an Israeli girl and wounding 16 before being shot dead.[12] In April 2003, a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up at the Kfar Saba train station during the morning rush hour, killing a security guard and wounding 10 bystanders.[13]
The census of 1922 listed the population of Kfar Saba as 14 Jews.[14] By the census of 1931 it had grown to 307 Jews, 9 Christians, and one female of "no religion".[15] In 1945, the town had a population of 4,320 Jews.[16]
According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), in 2001, the ethnic makeup of the city was 99.9% Jewish and 0.1% Others. Additionally, there were 523 immigrant residents. Also according to the CBS, there were 37,000 males and 39,600 females in 2001. The population of the city was spread out with 31.1% 19 years of age or younger, 16.3% between 20 and 29, 17.7% between 30 and 44, 20.2% from 45 to 59, 3.5% from 60 to 64, and 11.3% 65 years of age or older. The population growth rate was 2.0% for that year.
The city is ranked high on the socio-economic scale (8 out of 10)[17]
According to CBS, there were 31,528 salaried workers and 2,648 self-employed in Kfar Saba in 2000. The mean monthly wage in 2000 for a salaried worker was ILS 7,120, a real change of 10.1% over the course of 2000. Salaried males had a mean monthly wage of ILS 9,343 (a real change of 9.9%) versus ILS 5,033 for females (a real change of 9.7%). The mean income for the self-employed was 8,980. 1,015 people received unemployment benefits and 1,682 people received an income guarantee.
In May 2004 the exploration company Givot Olam said that the Meged-4 oil well, located northeast of Kfar Saba, has exceeded original predictions and contains an extremely valuable deposit of oil.[18]
In 2010, Kfar Saba had 12 secular elementary schools, 3 religious elementary schools, 8 secular high schools and 3 religious high schools. The city is served by 105 synagogues. [19]
Meir Hospital is located in Kfar Saba.[20] Meir Hospital is a major medical center named for Josef Meir, the first head of the General Sick Fund and the first director of the Israeli Ministry of Health. [21] The hospital accepts all patients, Jews and Arabs, including patients from cities within the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority, such as Qalqilyah.[22]
Kfar Saba is the site of Israel's first biofilter project. [23]
A Mamluk caravanserai complex, including the mausoleum of Nabi Yamin, is located by the Kfar Saba – Qalqilyah road. The site contains an inscription dated to the 14th century.[24] The site has been associated with the tomb of Benjamin, son of Jacob. [25]North of this complex is a smaller tomb whose cupola has been painted green and is being maintained by local Palestinian Muslims, who consider it the "real" tomb. Jews and Muslims venerate Benjamin. Kfar Saba is in the heart of Dan's tribal area, but there are traditions that explain why Benjamin's tomb is located in the land of the tribe of Dan. The traditional burial place of Simeon, son of Jacob, lies close to Kfar Saba. It is a small domed structure that sits in a field not far from kibbutz Eyal. According to Meron Benvenisti, the site was until 1948 only holy to Muslims, and Jews ascribed no holiness to it.[26] Today the dedicated inscriptions from the Mamluk period remain engraved on the stone walls of the tomb [but] the cloths embroidered with verses from the Qur´an, with which the gravestones were draped, have been replaced by draperies bearing verses from the Hebrew Bible.[27]
The modern development of Kfar Saba started when water was discovered in the early 1920s. The first well was excavated at this time, followed by many others over the next two decades. The Kfar Saba Water Plant was founded to centralize the water supply system. The city’s first well is located in the courtyard of Kfar Saba City Hall.[28]
The site of the dairy farm of Baruch Amrami, who transferred the administration of the Kfar Saba settlement from Petah Tikva to a local committee and founded the water company and the first bank of the village in the 1920s, is on the corner of Amrami and Rothschild Streets. The cowshed and Amrami's "office" are still standing. [29]
Due to the lack of security during World War I, the settlement was abandoned. In 1922, the Nordenstein family returned and built the first defensible stone house. It took another two years for other families to return (mostly from Petah Tikva). The Nordenstein House is still standing on HaEmek Street, near the central bus station.
A stone house on Tel Hai Street designed for defense (outlooks and sharp-shooting parapets) served as the communal dining room of Kibbutz HaKovesh. The pioneers themselves lived in tents. In 1948, the kibbutz moved north to secure the Kalkiliya front. The building now houses the Kfar Saba Civil Guard.
Remnants of an ancient Israelite village were discovered east of the city, and are believed to be the ruins of biblical Capharsaba. The Kfar Saba Archaeology Museum exhibits artifacts found in the region. [30]
Kfar Saba is twinned with:
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