Magdiel (Hebrew : מגדיאל) is one of the four original communities of Jewish farmers who combined in 1964 to form Hod Hasharon, Israel. It was founded in 1924 and according to a census conducted in 1931 by the British Mandate authorities had a population of 740. [1]
Before the 20th century, the site of Magdiel formed part of the Forest of 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. The local Arab inhabitants traditionally used the area for pasture, firewood, and intermittent cultivation. The intensification of settlement and agriculture in the coastal plain during the 19th century led to deforestation and subsequent environmental degradation known from Hebrew sources. [2]
Magdiel was established as a moshava , starting on 4,000 dunams of land purchased near the Arab village of Biyar 'Adas. The initial population included Jewish immigrants from Russia, Poland and Lithuania, later joined by a group from the Netherlands. [3] In 1964, four villages – Magdiel, Ramatayim, Hadar, and Ramat Hadar – merged to become Hod Hasharon. [4]
The Magdiel Central Synagogue was built between 1930 and 1944, and was inaugurated in an uncompleted stage in 1931. In the run up to independence the synagogue served as a Haganah headquarters. [5] In 2009 a small Haganah weapons cache dating back to the 1948 war was found at the synagogue. [5]
The place name is symbolic Meged El (i.e., the oil of God)" [6] and appears in the Tanach/Old Testament. Magdiel was the name of an Edomite clan (possibly the name of an eponymous chieftain) mentioned in Genesis 36:43. Its invocation of El may show that that deity was worshipped in Edom, along with Kaus and others.
Magdiel is the location of a Youth Aliyah boarding school of that name that took in young survivors of the Holocaust. [7] Other schools there include a comprehensive secondary school and a technical vocational boarding school of the ORT educational network.
The Sharon plain is the central section of the Israeli coastal plain. The plain lies between the Mediterranean Sea to the west and the Samarian Hills, 15 km (9.3 mi) to the east. It stretches from Nahal Taninim, a stream marking the southern end of Mount Carmel in the north, to the Yarkon River in the south, at the northern limit of Tel Aviv, over a total of about 90 km (56 mi). The level of the Sharon plain is connected to the level of the Mediterranean Sea by the Sharon Escarpment.
Hod HaSharon is a city in the Central District of Israel. The city is located approximately 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) east of the Mediterranean coastline, south of Kfar Saba, southeast of Raanana, and northeast of Ramat HaSharon.
The Battle of Haifa, called by the Jewish forces Operation Bi'ur Hametz, was a Haganah operation carried out on 21–22 April 1948 and a major event in the final stages of the civil war in Palestine, leading up to the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The objective of the operation was the capture of the Arab neighborhoods of Haifa. The operation formed part of the 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight, with approximately 15,000 Arab residents being displaced between April 21–22, and with only 4,000 remaining in the city by mid-May from a pre-conflict population of approximately 65,000.
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Neve Yaakov is an Israeli settlement in East Jerusalem, part of the Israeli-occupied territories, north of the settlement of Pisgat Ze'ev and south of the Palestinian locality of al-Ram. Established in 1924 during the period of the British Mandate, it was depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. The area was captured by Israel in the Six-Day War and a new neighborhood was built nearby, at which time international opposition to its legitimacy began. The international community considers Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this, defining it as a neighborhood within the jurisdiction of the Jerusalem Municipality, which provides all services. The population of Neve Yaakov is 23,300. Neve Yaakov is one of the Ring Settlements of East Jerusalem. The settlement is also the location of the IDF's Central Command for the West Bank, Jerusalem, Sharon, Gush Dan and Shephelah.
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Kfar Yona is a city in the Sharon subdistrict in the Central District of Israel. It is located between the cities Netanya and Tulkarm, about 8 km east of Netanya in the central junction between Highway 6 and Highway 4. The village was established in 1932 by Maurice Fischer and was declared a local council in the year 1940. Following developments in the fields of construction, industry and, education, the local council received city status in February 11th 2014. In 2024 the city has a jurisdiction of 11,550 dunams (~11.55 km2) and a population of 29,953.
Magdiel is a Youth Aliyah boarding school in Hod Hasharon, Israel.
Tiferet Yisrael Synagogue, most often spelled Tiferet Israel, also known as the Nisan Bak Shul, after its co-founder, Nisan Bak was a prominent synagogue between 1872 and 1948 in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem.
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Givat HaShlosha is a kibbutz in central Israel. Located about 4 km east of Petah Tikva, near the Yarkon river, it falls under the jurisdiction of Drom Hasharon Regional Council. In 2022 it had a population of 922.
Na'an is a kibbutz near the city of Rehovot in Israel. Located within the Central District, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gezer Regional Council and borders the villages of Ganei Hadar, Ramot Meir and Sitria. Founded in 1930, it is the first kibbutz established by Jews born in Eretz Israel. Kibbutz Naan is the largest kibbutz in Israel in terms of population.
Hof HaSharon Regional Council, is a regional council in the Central and Tel Aviv districts of Israel. It is located on the coastline in the Sharon area between Netanya and Herzliya.
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Magdiel is a Hebrew name associated with any of the following:
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