Shoham ( he, שֹׁהַם, ''lit.''

onyx Onyx primarily refers to the parallel banded variety of chalcedony, a silicate mineral. Agate and onyx are both varieties of layered chalcedony that differ only in the form of the bands: agate has curved bands and onyx has parallel bands. The ...

) is a town ( local council) 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 ...

. The name relates to one of the 12 stones on the Hoshen, the sacred breastplate worn by a Jewish high priest (Exodus 28:20), similar to other nearby towns: Nofekh,

Bareket Bareket ( he, בַּרֶקֶת, , Emerald) is a moshav in central Israel. Located in the Shephelah around five kilometres north-east of Ben Gurion International Airport and covering 2,500 dunams, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hevel Modi'in ...

, Leshem and Ahlama (the former name of Beit Arif). As of , Shoham had a population of . Its jurisdiction is 5,889

dunam A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; tr, dönüm; he, דונם), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area equivalent to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amou ...

s (~5.9 km²).

History

A plan to establish a town in the area that is now Shoham was first proposed in the 1960s, as an idea to establish a town for immigrants from

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sou ...

. It was again proposed in the 1970s. However, residents of nearby

moshav A moshav ( he, מוֹשָׁב, plural ', lit. ''settlement, village'') is a type of Israeli town or settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 ...

im wanted to build a rural community for the adult children of farmers in cooperative communities. In the early 1990s, Israeli Housing Minister

Ariel Sharon Ariel Sharon (; ; ; also known by his diminutive Arik, , born Ariel Scheinermann, ; 26 February 1928 – 11 January 2014) was an Israeli general and politician who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Israel from March 2001 until April 2006. S ...

put forward a new plan to create a town in the area. Construction began in 1993, when the first 300 homes were built. From then on, the town grew rapidly. By 1995, it had 3,100 residents, and by 2014, had reached a population of 20,000.

Character

Shoham is a middle-class town, and residency there is considered a

status symbol A status symbol is a visible, external symbol of one's social position, an indicator of economic or social status. Many luxury goods are often considered status symbols. ''Status symbol'' is also a sociological term – as part of social and soc ...

in Israel. In terms of average wages and the rate of high school students who complete their matriculation, Shoham residents rank well above the national average. Its residential areas primarily have single-family homes with yards and

duplexes A duplex house plan has two living units attached to each other, either next to each other as townhouses, condominiums or above each other like apartments. By contrast, a building comprising two attached units on two distinct properties is ...

, although there are a few apartment complexes. According to ''

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner ...

'', it has a small-town, community-oriented feel, but offers most of the services found in bedroom communities, including shopping centers, a high school, and a middle school. The environment is considered a top priority in Shoham, and each neighborhood has municipal gardens and green spaces. The town's parks and gardens cover over 400

s, and are dotted with sculptures. The town has a performing arts center, sports facilities, a public library, and a retiree center and activity club.

Politics

Mayors of Shoham: #Dov Shayish, 1993–1998 (appointed) #Shachar Ben Ami, 1998–2003 #Gil Livneh, 2003–2018 #Eitan Patigro, 2018–present

Education

In the 2009–2010 school year, Shoham ranked top in the country in percentage of high school students passing the

Bagrut Te'udat Bagrut (, ''lit.'' "maturity certificate", Arabic: شهادة بجروت) is a certificate that attests that a student has successfully passed Israel's high school matriculation examination. Bagrut is a prerequisite for higher education i ...

matriculation exams. In the 2014-2015 school year, 88.1% of high school students matriculated. About half of the municipal budget is dedicated to education.

Notable residents

Matan Baltaxa Matan Baltaxa (or Baltaksa, he, מתן בלטקסה; born 20 September 1995) is an Israeli footballer. He currently plays for Austria Wien. Early life Baltaxa was born in Shoham, Israel, to a Jewish family. He served as a soldier in the Israel ...

, footballer * Ziv Bar-Joseph, computational biologist *

Haim Katz Haim Katz ( he, חַיִּים כַּץ, born 21 December 1947) is an Israeli politician. He currently serves as the Minister of Tourism. Katz was the Minister of Labor, Welfare and Social Services from 2015 to 2019, and served as a member of ...

, politician *

Moshe Mizrahi Moshe Mizrahi ( he, משה מזרחי; 20 September 1950 – 11 December 2022) was a senior Israel Police official and a member of Knesset for the Labor Party (2013–2015) and Zionist Union (2018–2019). Mizrahi received a bachelor of Law de ...

, politician *

Dan Naveh Dan Naveh ( he, דן נוה, born 21 June 1960) is an Israeli businessman and former politician. He served as a member of the Knesset for Likud between 1999 and 2007 and as a government minister from 2001 until 2006. He is the founder and the man ...

, politician *

Lonah Chemtai Salpeter Lonah Korlima Chemtai Salpeter ( he, לונה צ'מטאי-סלפטר, , born 12 December 1988) is a Kenyan-Israeli runner. She won the bronze medal in the marathon at the 2022 World Athletics Championships. At the European Athletics Championship ...

, Kenyan-Israeli Olympic marathon runner *

David Stav Rabbi David Stav ( he, דוד סתיו, born 13 May 1960) is the chief rabbi of the city of Shoham, the chairman of the Tzohar organization, and serves as a rabbi for the Ezra youth movement. Biography Stav was born in Jerusalem, the son of ...

, rabbi *

Ella Lee Lahav Ella-Lee Lahav (, born 2 June 2003), known as Ella-Lee, is an Israeli singer. In 2019 she became famous following her second place at the seventh season of Israel's '' HaKokhav HaBa LaErovizion'' (''Rising Star to the Eurovision''), the Israel ...

, singer *

Tamir Saban Tamir “Seth” Saban (תמיר סבן; born October 19, 1999) is an American-Israeli professional basketball player for Maccabi Haifa of the Liga Leumit. Standing at 6 ft 3 in (1.91 meters), he primarily plays at the shooting guard and point gua ...

, basketball player

References

External links

* {{Authority control Local councils in Central District (Israel) Populated places established in 1993 1993 establishments in Israel