New city in Israel: Be’er Ya’akov receives city status

Be’er Yaakov was established in 1907 and was mostly populated by immigrants from Russia, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Argentina, and Iran. In 1949, with a population of approximately 400, it received local council status.

By Tobias Siegal, World Israel News

Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked announced Sunday morning that the local council of Be’er Ya’akov in central Israel has received city status.

Shaked did not wait long before calling former head of the local council and the city’s first mayor Nissim Gozlan to tell him the good news.

“I was very happy to call Nissim Gozlan and to notify him that from now on he’s a mayor,” Shaked wrote in a Facebook post. “This is an important step that indicates [that we] trust Gozlan. He has taken Be’er Ya’akov one step forward and has always expressed deep concern for its development and prosperity,” she later added.

Gozlan has served as head of the local council of Be’er Ya’akov for 17 consecutive years, after winning three elections between 2003 and 2013 – indicating that his work is noticeable and appreciated by the residents he is meant to serve.

Moreover, Shaked noted, Be’er Ya’akov has proven that it is capable of providing services and maintaining a logistic infrastructure required of a city, even during crises.

The local council did a good job of managing the coronavirus pandemic and “reached all defined objectives,” Shaked said. Be’er Ya’akov has also been at the forefront of Israel’s housing crisis, with many construction plans scheduled to begin soon or already underway.

As such, the once small town has been attracting young families from all across the country by offering reasonable prices in a central area.

With a population of 28,000, which is expected to triple itself in the next few years, the former town is already going through changes that one would expect to find in large cities, such as construction in highly populated areas, urban renewal and the establishment of public institutions and a growing business sector.

“All economic indicators show that Be’er Ya’akov is a strong municipality that will be able to financially cope with its growing population,” Gozlan wrote in a Facebook post after Shaked’s announcement.

Be’er Yaakov was established in 1907 and was mostly populated by immigrants from Russia, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Argentina, and Iran. In 1949, with a population of approximately 400, it received local council status. It is located near the cities of Ness Ziona and Rishon Lezion. Following the relocation of the adjacent military base Tzrifin to the Negev in southern Israel, it was decided that the vacated land would be used to expand Be’er Ya’akov’s residential areas, with planners envisioning the new city reaching a population of 100,000.

“Mazal tov to the city of Be’er Ya’akov,” Shaked concluded.