Rishon LeZion

Rishon LeZion in 1937

Rishon LeZion was founded on July 31, 1882, by ten Hovevei Zion pioneers from Kharkiv, Ukraine (then the Russian Empire) headed by Zalman David Levontin. Reuven Yudalevich was also a member of the group. The British vice consul in Jaffa Haim Amzaleg purchased 835 acres (337.91 ha) of land southeast of present-day Tel Aviv, part of the townland of the Arab village of Ayun Kara (literally 'fountain of the crier') from Mustafa Abdallah ali Dajan.[4] Amzaleg signed a declaration to the settlers stating that none of the structures on this land will ever be his own.

In addition to the problems posed by sandy soil and lack of water, the newcomers had no agricultural experience. Baron Rothschild brought in experts who drilled for water, finding the groundwater table uneven. Wells were built at a depth of 20–25 meters.[5] After the Biluim arrived, the colony slowly began to develop. On 23 February 1883, the settlers found water in the wells. To mark this occasion, the village emblem was inscribed with a verse from the Bible: "We have found water." (Genesis 26:32) Fani Belkind, Israel Belkind, Shimshon Belkind, Yoel Drubin, Haim Hissin, and David Yudilovich were among the Biluim who arrived in Rishon Lezion at this time.

In 1883 Itzhak Leib Toporovski a blacksmith of the young village created the first iron plow in the land of Israel, and in 1885 the flag that would later become the Flag of Israel was raised for the first time as part of the celebrations of the 3rd anniversary of the village.[6]

When Baron Edmond James de Rothschild took over, sending in his administrators and agricultural guide Shaul Helzner of Mikve Israel, major progress was made in the spheres of agriculture, citrus and viticulture. The Great Synagogue, which became a major focus of life in Rishon LeZion, was built between 1885 and 1889. Under Rothschild's patronage, the Carmel-Mizrahi Winery was established in 1886.[7] The Baron Edmond James de Rothschild and his wife Adelheid von Rothschild came to visit the village a year later in 1887.

In 1886, as Rishon LeZion's population of around 300 included several dozen children who required proper education, the Haviv elementary school was established in Rishon LeZion as the first modern school to teach exclusively in Hebrew. Dov Lubman Haviv taught there and Mordechai Lubman Haviv was an educational inspector. Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, the leading figure in the revival of Hebrew, was a teacher in Rishon LeZion. In 1898 the first Hebrew kindergarten in the world was established by Esther (Shapira) Ginzburg a former student of the Haviv school.

Naphtali Herz Imber, the later famed Hebrew language poet, lived in Rishon LeZion for a few years in the late 1880s. He recited his poem, Tikvahtenu, to eager ears. In 1887, Shmuel Cohen, a young resident of Rishon with a musical background, observed the emotional response of the local Jewish farmers to Imber's poem. Using his musical skill, he put the poem to music. Cohen's musical composition was an adaptation of a Moldavian/Romanian folk-song, "Carcul cu Boi" (the Cart with Oxen). The catalyst of Cohen's musical adaptation facilitated the quick, enthusiastic spread of Imber's poem throughout all the Zionist communities of Palestine. Within a short few years, it spread globally to pro-Zionist communities and organizations becoming the unofficial Zionist National Anthem. In 1933, at the 18th Zionist Congress in Prague, the Imber/Cohen Zionist National Anthem,formally adopted, was renamed the Hatikvah (The Hope). November 2004, the State of Israel formally adopted Shmuel Cohen's 1887 musical adaptation to a newly shortened, modified version of Imber's poem, creating the modern Israeli National Anthem, the Hatikvah.

In 1888, the medicine house, the baron's stables and the baron's clerks house were built. In 1889 the building in which the Carmel-Mizrahi Winery is located was built. A telephone was added to the winery in 1891 and in 1898 electricity was installed. In 1890, a palm boulevard was planted in the location of the future city park. The Rishon LeZion orchestra was established in 1895. In 1898, the year Theodor Herzl visited the settlement, the city park (then the village park) was established and a water tower was built next to the well.[6]

Great Synagogue, founders square, and village bell

A founder of Rishon LeZion was Joseph Feinberg [8] the father of Murder victim Dora Bloch.

David Ben-Gurion was head of workers' union at the winery before later becoming Israel's first Prime Minister.

At the year of its founding in 1882, Rishon LeZion had a population of 150. In 1890, Rishon LeZion had a population of 359. Five years later, the figure had risen to 380, and by 1900, to 526.

In 1900 the management of the village was transferred from the baron's office to the village council and the Jewish Colonization Association. In 1910 the village bell was constructed next to the medicine house, and in 1912 the first car ("First chariot without horses") appeared in the village.[6] In 1911, 4,000 dunams of land in Rishon LeZion were planted with grapes and 254 dunams with other fruit orchards.[5] In 1913 the governor of Greater Syria Djemal Pasha annexed the sands around Rishon Lezion to their territory and in 1915 Rishon Lezion was expanded again and was given the territory between it and the Mediterranean Sea. In 1913 Nahlat Yehuda, another Jewish settlement, was established north of Rishon Lezion. In 1915 Rishon Lezion and the surrounding area experienced a Locust attack.[6]

Ayun Kara was the scene of a bloody battle between Turkish and New Zealand troops on November 14, 1917.[9] Local citizens carried the wounded to a medical facility in Rishon LeZion.[10] A stone cenotaph was erected by the people of Rishon LeZion to the memory of the New Zealanders who fell that day, but it has since been destroyed.[11][12] In the wake of the battle the New Zealanders set up camp at Rishon Lezion, which was described by one officer as a "pretty little hamlet surrounded by vineyards and orange groves." Relations between the troops and villagers were good, and the troops brought the villagers the news of the Balfour Declaration.[13]

In 1919 the women of Rishon Lezion were given voting rights and on the same year Nehama Pohatchevsky was elected chairman of the village council which marked the first time a woman was elected to the position.[6][14]

Rishon LeZion in 1995, with Founders Square and the Great Synagogue in the foreground

In 1924 the British Army contracted the Jaffa Electric Company for wired electric power to the military installations in Sarafand. The contract allowed the Electric Company to extend the grid beyond the original geographical limits that had been projected by the concession it was given. The high-tension line that exceeded the limits of the original concession ran along some major towns and agricultural settlements, offering extended connections to the Jewish settlements of Rishon Le-Zion, Nes-Ziona and Rehovot (in spite of their proximity to the high-tension line, the Arab towns of Ramleh and Lydda remained unconnected).[15] According to a census conducted in 1922 by the British Mandate authorities, Rishon LeZion had a population of 1,396 inhabitants, consisting of 1,373 Jews and 23 Muslims,[16] increasing in 1931 census to 2,525 inhabitants, in 648 houses.[17]

• 
  Rishon LeZion 1929 1:20,000
• 
  Rishon LeZion 1945 1:250,000
• 
  Rishon LeZion 1937

Rishon LeZion was declared a city in 1950, by which time it had a population of around 18,000. By 1983 it had a population of 103,000. In 2006, 222,300 people were living in the city. By 2020, the population is expected to reach 253,600.[18] In 2007, the Rishon LeZion Municipality was awarded the Ministry of Interior Prize for Proper Management.[19]

The city may in the future host a new international airport, which will replace Ben-Gurion International Airport and Sde Dov Airport. Under a plan currently being considered, a new international airport will be constructed on a marine platform built two kilometers (1.2 miles) offshore of Rishon LeZion, the terminals, and cargo docks will be built onshore near a highway intersection, which will be linked to the airport by fast trains or buses traveling along a pier.[20] In 2016, the Israeli government approved the expansion of Rishon LeZion onto sand dunes west of the city, upon which one of the largest commercial and residential construction projects in the Central District will be built on 1,000 dunams. Another industrial zone in the western part of the city is planned to be almost doubled in size.[21][22]

The old city of Rishon includes the original neighborhoods, some buildings dating back to Rishon's founding in 1881. This quarter is located in the city center, between and around Herzl and Jabotinsky Streets. It includes the following neighborhoods: Nahalat Yehuda (on the northernmost tip of Rishon); Neve Hillel; Bnot Hayil; Abramovich; Katzenelson; Remez (Giv'at Levinson), on the southwestern tip of old Rishon; Rishonim (Gan Nahum), to the east of Remez

The Eastern Housing Projects (Hebrew: שיכוני המזרח‎ Shikunei HaMizrah) was Rishon's quick expansion to the east. It is dominated by the housing projects (shikunim) there, in the Shikunei HaMizrah neighborhood itself. The eastern projects stopped developing when they reached the fences of the Tzrifin military base. When and if Tzrifin is sold to private contractors as planned, this quarter is expected to expand significantly with new lucrative housing projects. Other smaller neighborhoods include Revivim, Kidmat Rishon, Ne'urim, Rambam, Neve Hadarim, HaShomer, Kfar Arye, Mishor HaNof and Kiryat Simha.

The industrial zones in Rishon LeZion are called Mabat, an abbreviation for Miskhar, Bilui VeTa'asiya (Commerce, Pastime and Industry). The northern zone is the oldest and original industrial zone, once full of light industry and glass factories. Today, it is known for its prolific nightlife.

West Rishon LeZion is the conglomeration of the new neighborhoods of the city, built in the 1980s and 90s. The west also has a higher land value because of its relative proximity to the Mediterranean Sea. It includes the entire city west of Tzahal Road. The quarter includes the new industrial zone (Western Mabat), and a number of residential neighborhoods: Neve Eliyahu (or Ramat Eliyahu), Neot Shikma, Neve Dekalim, Neve Hof (or Pueblo Español), Neve Yam, Kiryat Rishon, Kiryat Cramim, Kiryat Ganim, Neot Ashalim, Kiryat Hatanei Pras Nobel (lit Nobel Prize Laureates' Town)

Rishon LeZion Moshe Dayan railway station

Gan Habaron

The Rishon LeZion HaRishonim Railway Station is located to the south of the city center, in the middle of HaRishonim Interchange, at the intersection of the new Highway 431 and the Rishon LeZion – Ness Ziona road. There are direct trains from the HaRishonim Railway Station to Tel Aviv, Lod, Bnei Brak, Petah Tikva, Rosh HaAyin, Hod HaSharon and Kfar Saba. All stations of Israel Railways can be accessed using the transfer stations at Tel Aviv and Lod.

The Rishon LeZion Moshe Dayan Railway Station is in the western part of the city, situated on the new rail line from Tel Aviv to Ashdod via Moshe Dayan station and Yavne (West). While the link north to Tel Aviv is operational, the railway from Moshe Dayan to Yavne is currently under construction and is expected to be completed in 2012 and from Yavne to Ashdod in 2013. There are future long-range plans for someday connecting the Rishonim station with Moshe Dayan station, while constructing a couple of additional railway stations in between them.

The bus companies serving intercity lines in Rishon LeZion are: Egged, Dan, Afikim, Metropoline, and Kavim. Rishon LeZion has an intracity bus network operated by Egged and Dan. Most lines are metropolitan, continuing to Bat Yam, Holon, Tel Aviv and Jaffa. The bus lines are augmented by share taxis operated by Moniyot HaIr.