Pardesiya ( he, פַּרְדֵּסִיָּה) is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

in the Central District of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. Located on the

Sharon plain The Sharon plain ( ''HaSharon Arabic: سهل شارون Sahel Sharon'') is the central section of the Israeli coastal plain. The plain lies between the Mediterranean Sea to the west and the Samarian Hills, to the east. It stretches from Nahal ...

, between

Kfar Yona Kfar Yona ( he, כְּפַר יוֹנָה, lit=Yona's Village) is a city in the Sharon subdistrict in the Central District of Israel. It is about 7 km east of Netanya. With a jurisdiction of 11,017 dunams (~11 km²). in it had a popul ...

and the

Lev HaSharon Regional Council Lev HaSharon Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית לב השרון, ''Mo'atza Azorit Lev HaSharon'', ''lit.'' Heart of the Sharon Regional Council) is a regional council in the Central District of Israel. The council was established in 1 ...

, it was founded between 1937 and 1939. In it had a population of ; its jurisdiction is 1,273 dunams (~1.3 km²)

History

Before the 20^th century, Pardesiya (from Arabic, Ghabet

Fardisya Fardisya was a Palestinian Arab hamlet in the Tulkarm Subdistrict, south of Tulkarm. It was depopulated during the 1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on April 1, 1948, under Operation Coastal Clearing, and was mostly destroyed with the ...

) formed part of the Forest of Sharon, a hallmark of the region’s historical landscape. It was an open

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

dominated by Mount Tabor Oak (Quercus ithaburensis), which extended from

in the north to Ra’ananna in the south. The local Arab inhabitants traditionally used the area for

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or swine ...

firewood Firewood is any wooden material that is gathered and used for fuel. Generally, firewood is not highly processed and is in some sort of recognizable log or branch form, compared to other forms of wood fuel like pellets or chips. Firewood can ...

and intermittent cultivation. The intensification of settlement and agriculture in the

coastal plain A coastal plain is flat, low-lying land adjacent to a sea coast. A fall line commonly marks the border between a coastal plain and a piedmont area. Some of the largest coastal plains are in Alaska and the southeastern United States. The Gulf Coa ...

during the 19^th century led to

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated d ...

and subsequent

environmental degradation Environmental degradation is the deterioration of the environment (biophysical), environment through depletion of resources such as quality of air, water and soil; the destruction of ecosystems; habitat destruction; the extinction of wildlife; an ...

known from Hebrew sources. The lands of Pardesiya were purchased in 1928 by Jean-Yona Fisher, but remained unused. In 1937 Avraham Tabib of the Yemenite ''

olim Aliyah (, ; he, עֲלִיָּה ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel, which is in the modern era chiefly represented by the Israel, State of Israel ...

'' organization asked its members to come to the land to build a village, promising cheap land. Twenty families came and in 1939 completed the construction. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the villagers found themselves unemployed and unable to pay taxes for their housing. The residents managed to settle the issue with the

Jewish Agency for Israel The Jewish Agency for Israel ( he, הסוכנות היהודית לארץ ישראל, translit=HaSochnut HaYehudit L'Eretz Yisra'el) formerly known as The Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. ...

and continued living in the village. After the war, a new neighborhood was built, as well as a ''

ma'abara Ma'abarot ( he, מַעְבָּרוֹת) were immigrant and refugee absorption camps established in Israel in the 1950s, constituting one of the largest public projects planned by the state to implement its sociospatial and housing policies. T ...

'' to absorb new immigrants. Pardesiya gained local council status in 1952.

Geography and location

Pardesiya is located on the

, bordering

on the east and Tzur Moshe of the

. Highway 4 borders the town to the west, and Road 5613 to the south. Its elevation is 35 m above sea level.

Demographics

As of 2008, Pardesiya settles 6,318 residents. 99.5% Jewish, with an additional 0.5% being other non-Arabs. The age distribution was as follows:

International relations

Pardesiya's twin cities: *

Viersen Viersen (; li, Veeëse) is the capital of the district of Viersen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Viersen is situated approximately 8 km north-west of Mönchengladbach, 15 km south-west of Krefeld and 20 km east o ...

, Germany

Notable residents

* David Tiram, footballer

References

External links

* {{Authority control Central District (Israel) Local councils in Central District (Israel) Populated places established in 1938 1938 establishments in Mandatory Palestine