250px, Aerial photo of Afeka
Afeka is a neighborhood in the north of the city of Tel Aviv, located north of the Yarkon river, which was established by the commanders of the
Haganah
Haganah ( he, הַהֲגָנָה, lit. ''The Defence'') was the main Zionist paramilitary organization of the Jewish population ("Yishuv") in Mandatory Palestine between 1920 and its disestablishment in 1948, when it became the core of the ...
for their families.
The neighborhood is bordered in the east by the
Tel Baruch
Tel Baruch is a luxury neighborhood dating back to 1947, located on the northern side of the Yarkon River, in the northeast of Tel Aviv, Israel.
The neighborhood
The neighborhood is divided into two parts:
* Tel Baruch - The old section of Tel ...
neighborhood, in the south by the
Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...
, in the west by the
Neve Avivim
Neve Avivim ( he, נווה אביבים) is a residential neighborhood of Tel Aviv, Israel. It is located in the northwestern part of the city.
History
Neve Avivim was founded in the 1960s, and nearly half of the existing structures were built i ...
neighborhood and in the northwest by the
Ramat Aviv Gimel
Ramat Aviv Gimel ( he, רמת אביב ג') is a residential neighborhood in northwest Tel Aviv, Israel. It is considered to be an affluent area with higher than average real estate prices. The neighborhood was planned and built in the 1970s.
Cul ...
neighborhood.
Name Origin
During the planning stages of the neighborhood, a proposal was received from KKL to replace the neighborhood's land and place the Haggana Commanders neighborhood in
Tel Afek
Tel Afek, ( he, תל אפק), also spelled Aphek and Afeq, is an archaeological site located in the coastal hinterland of the Ein Afek Nature Reserve, east of Kiryat Bialik, Israel. It is also known as Tel Kurdani.
History Antiquity
The site ...
. Following the proposal that was later rejected, the name of the Haggan Commanders' Association that established the neighborhood was changed to "Afeka Haggana Commanders' Housing, Cooperative Association". The name "Afeka" which means "to Apek". That is, "to
Tel Afek
Tel Afek, ( he, תל אפק), also spelled Aphek and Afeq, is an archaeological site located in the coastal hinterland of the Ein Afek Nature Reserve, east of Kiryat Bialik, Israel. It is also known as Tel Kurdani.
History Antiquity
The site ...
". In Hebrew, the addition of the letter "a" at the end of a location (eg, Afek) means "to" that location (eg, to Afek. ie, Afeka).
History
Afeka was built in 1954-1955 north of the Yarkon river and north of the core of the village
Sheikh Munis. It began with a cooperative association that purchased land back in the days of the
British Mandate of Palestine British Mandate of Palestine or Palestine Mandate most often refers to:
* Mandate for Palestine: a League of Nations mandate under which the British controlled an area which included Mandatory Palestine and the Emirate of Transjordan.
* Mandatory P ...
. The first settler nucleus was organized in the summer of 1943 at a course for the
Haganah
Haganah ( he, הַהֲגָנָה, lit. ''The Defence'') was the main Zionist paramilitary organization of the Jewish population ("Yishuv") in Mandatory Palestine between 1920 and its disestablishment in 1948, when it became the core of the ...
commanders in the Tel Aviv area. The Haganah in those days was an illegal military organization, so the organization for the construction of the housing project was done separately from the
Haganah
Haganah ( he, הַהֲגָנָה, lit. ''The Defence'') was the main Zionist paramilitary organization of the Jewish population ("Yishuv") in Mandatory Palestine between 1920 and its disestablishment in 1948, when it became the core of the ...
. The association was headed by Dr. Zvi "Charlie" Levin, head of the Haganah's communication force. The cooperative association had 140 members. Most of them were commanders in the Haganah.
To save costs, the association decided that the first 107 houses would be built centrally. Residents were given the option to choose from several models of houses. The first houses were inhabited in 1955 and in October 1955 it was published in the
Davar newspaper that "120 of the 250 houses of the Afeka neighborhood (the neighborhood of the Haganah commanders) have already been built. In April, names were determined for 15 streets in the new neighborhood. Most of the names are related to the operations of the Haganah.
Demographics
The neighborhood is considered one of the most expensive and richest in Israel and its ranking in the socio-economic index is 10 out of 10.
Afka was marked as a neighborhood of high socio-economic status from its first days. The communist newspaper
Kol Ha'am
''Kol HaAm'' ( he, קול העם, lit. "Voice of the People") was a Hebrew-language newspaper in Mandatory Palestine and Israel. It was initially published by the Palestine Communist Party and later by its successor, the Maki (historical political ...
noted in its issue of September 3 1958 that the highest revenue per capita in the branches of the Cooperative Consumers Association in Tel Aviv (which operated eighty consumer associations that year) was recorded in the Afeka consumer association (which was located on Chaish St, next to the synagogue) - 304 lira per capita per year. The newspaper also noted that, for comparison, "in the shops in the Hatikva neighborhood and in the shops of the teachers association in King George Street, the average revenue per capita per year did not exceed 43 lira in 1957". Afeka's image as a wealthy neighborhood continued to grow stronger in recent decades, when impressive villas were built there in place of the original houses that were destroyed.
The founding residents of the neighborhood included members of the public, the military, and the
Mossad
Mossad ( , ), ; ar, الموساد, al-Mōsād, ; , short for ( he, המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים, links=no), meaning 'Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations'. is the national intelligence agency ...
(
Zvi Malchin,
Mike Harari
Michael Harari ( he, מייק הררי; February 18, 1927 – September 21, 2014) was an Israeli intelligence officer in the Mossad. He was involved in several notable operations, including the failed Lillehammer affair and the rescue of hostages ...
,
Mota Gur,
Shlomo Lahat
Shlomo "Chich" Lahat ( he, שלמה להט; November 9, 1927 – October 1, 2014) was a major general in the Israel Defense Forces and former Head of the Manpower Directorate. He served as the eighth mayor of Tel Aviv in 1974–1993, for four co ...
,
Rafi Eitan
Rafael Eitan ( he, רפי איתן; 23 November 1926 – 23 March 2019) was an Israeli politician and intelligence officer. He also led Gil and served as Minister of Senior Citizens. He was in charge of the Mossad operation that led to the ar ...
,
Smuel Barkai and more) alongside artists and intellectuals (
Abraham Dasha (Pashnel)
Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jew ...
,
Efraim Kishon
Ephraim (; he, ''ʾEp̄rayīm'', in pausa: ''ʾEp̄rāyīm'') was, according to the Book of Genesis, the second son of Joseph ben Jacob and Asenath. Asenath was an Ancient Egyptian woman whom Pharaoh gave to Joseph as wife, and the daughte ...
,
the duo "Ilka and Aviva",
Batya Uziel, and others).
Until the end of the 1990s lived in the neighbourhood the philanthropist
Bat Sheva de Rothschild, a daughter of the
Rothschild family
The Rothschild family ( , ) is a wealthy Ashkenazi Jewish family originally from Frankfurt that rose to prominence with Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744–1812), a court factor to the German Landgraves of Hesse-Kassel in the Free City of F ...
and founder of
Batsheva Dance Company.
Sports
In the garden on the volunteer street there are two tennis courts and a basketball court.
There are public fitness facilities in the Carter Garden on Kommiam Street.
The sports center of
Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...
is located south of the neighborhood.
In the northeast of the neighborhood is the
Beit HaLochem, which is a sports-rehabilitation and social activity center for the disabled IDF and their families, operated by the
IDF Disabled Organization.
Public Gardens
There are public gardens in the neighborhood, including "
Gan Carter" on Kommiam Street, which includes playgrounds and spacious lawns.
An urban grove of trees called
Drezner Grove that covers about 1500 dunams is located adjacent to the north of the neighborhood near
Afka Caves. The grove is also used for planting
trees that have been uprooted from other places in the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo. The trees in the grove are therefore numbered.
Monuments
In Carter Garden, there is a memorial to
Rabbi Firefighter Shalom Sharabi, who was killed by falling into a deep well inside an abandoned building that was within the garden, on
March 5
Events Pre-1600
* 363 – Roman emperor Julian leaves Antioch with an army of 90,000 to attack the Sasanian Empire, in a campaign which would bring about his own death.
* 1046 – Nasir Khusraw begins the seven-year Middle Eastern ...
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
.
The "Haganah Square" is a monument commemorating the members of the Haganah and its commanders in Tel Aviv who founded the Afka neighborhood in 1943.
Education
In the neighborhood there are state kindergartens on the volunteer street.
The children of the neighborhood attend schools in the nearby neighborhoods.
"
Yad Avner" is the building of the
Geography
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...
department of
Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...
, named after
General
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...
Elimlech Avner. The building, designed by the architect
Sam Barkai, was originally designed as the community house of the neighborhood, and since
1971 *
The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6).
The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history.
Events
Ja ...
is used by Tel Aviv University.
Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...
is located south of the neighborhood.
Afka College is not located in the Afka neighborhood but in the
Naot Afka
Teva Naot ( he, טבע נאות) is an Israeli shoe and sandal manufacturer based at Kibbutz Neot Mordechai.
History
Naot, which opened in 1942, started out as a small kibbutz factory producing work boots. Currently, it employs 160 workers and d ...
neighborhood. several kilometers east of the neighborhood.
Policing
In the
Community Policing Center neighborhood, at 10 Zelig Street, the 'Yad Avner' building, where the
Geography
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...
department of
Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...
is also located.
Archaeology
At the northern border of the neighborhood, an archaeological site was discovered in 1951 with burial caves from the Roman and Byzantine periods attributed to the Samaritan tribe. The site became known as
Caves of Afka.
Religion
The Afeka Synagogue was established in the early 1970s. The cornerstone was laid in 1966. The synagogue is still active today.
In the neighborhood there is a
Beit Chabad managed by the local
Chabad emissary
A ( he, שליח, pl. , ) is a member of the Chabad Hasidic movement who is sent out to promulgate Judaism and Hasidism in locations around the world. There are over 6,500 Chabad families worldwide, in over 110 countries.
Origins
Starting i ...
.
References
{{reflist
Neighborhoods of Tel Aviv