Ra'anana - young at the age of 80

Ra'anana is a thriving city in the heart of the Sharon region, 12km north of Tel-Aviv, stretching over 14,928 dunams.
A young and educated city, most of its residents are native Israelis living alongside many immigrants from all over the world, many of whom come from English speaking countries.
Ra'anana is proud of its many achievements in all areas of life, and is one of the most popular cities in Israel. (Read about Religious and Cultural Ra'anana).

It is a city that preserves its history, its village-like atmosphere and its attributes as a city of and for the residents, along with being characterized by the dynamic growth of the 21st century.
The city has seen marked growth in its development, the construction of new neighborhoods with sophisticated and modern community centers and public institutions, a thriving
Hi-tech Park, for the enjoyment of its residents, children and youth has grown significantly.

Ra'anana, which has already won many awards for its activities, promoting environmental quality and quality of life, as well as the high level of its city infrastructure. It continues to take scrupulous care of its environment and to invest in the improvement of its resident's quality of life, in the spirit of the international standard ISO-9002, which was
awarded to the city on behalf of the Israeli Standards Institute.

Ra'anana - How it All Began?

Ra'anana's story began in 1912, with the founding of "Achuza A - New York", a company that was
involved in the Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel, the purpose of which was to purchase land
in Palestine, to immigrate to this country and to establish an agriculture settlement here. The First World War put an end to the plan temporarily. Only in 1922, did the dream finally come true.

On the 2nd of April 1922, 2 wagons left Tel - Aviv with 4 members of the "Achuza" group, 3 workers
and 2 armed guards. At the end of the 5 hour journey, they reached their destination, unloaded the
wagon and decided that they would erect the first tent on that spot.
In its early days it was called "Ra'anania", a name suggested by its founders in the U.S.
The settlements Arab neighbors called it "Americaya", because most of it residents in those days
spoke English and came from New York. Finally, the first settlers decided to select a Hebrew
version of the name and it was called "Ra'anana".
Ra'anana's story is the story of the establishment of Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel, a story
of Zionist fulfilment, a struggle for the country's independence and its establishment as the State of
Israel. A story of a small settlement, which was comprised of 300 residents at the end of the War of
Independence (1948), and today it boasts approximately 70,000 residents.