Ramat Ef'al () is a neighborhood of

Ramat Gan Ramat Gan (, ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located east of the municipality of Tel Aviv, and is part of the Gush Dan, Gush Dan metropolitan area. It is home to a Diamond Exchange District (one of the world's major diamond exch ...

in central

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. Previously part of

Ef'al Regional Council Ef'al was a regional council in Israel, in the Tel Aviv District which existed from 1950 until 2008 when it was liquidated and most of its area was annexed to the neighbouring cities of Ramat Gan, Kiryat Ono, and Or Yehuda. Ramat Pinkas was tra ...

, in 2007 it was transferred to the municipality of

together with

Kfar Azar Kfar Azar () is a moshav ovdim located in the Ono Valley in central Israel. Previously part of Ef'al Regional Council, in 2007 it was transferred to the municipality of Ramat Gan together with Ramat Ef'al. With an area of around , its population ...

History

Ef'al was planned as an

urban kibbutz An urban kibbutz (, ''Kibbutz Ironi'') is a form of kibbutz located within an existing city. There are currently just over 100 in Israel, totalling around 2,000 members. Although there were attempts to form urban kibbutzim in the early 20th century ...

, but due to high real-estate prices it was established on 250 dunams of agricultural land purchased by the

Jewish National Fund The Jewish National Fund (JNF; , ''Keren Kayemet LeYisrael''; previously , ''Ha Fund HaLeumi'') is a non-profit organizationProfessor Alon Tal, The Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, The Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben Gurion ...

near

. It was the site of one of the first battles of the

1948 Arab-Israeli War Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

. The first residents arrived in May 1947. On 4 December 1947, the kibbutz was attacked by 120 to 150 attackers from the village of

Salame Salami ( ; : ''salame'') is a ''salume'' consisting of fermented and air-dried meat, typically pork. Historically, salami was popular among Southern, Eastern, and Central European peasants because it can be stored at room temperature fo ...

. Defenders, including some

Palmach The Palmach (Hebrew: , acronym for , ''Plugot Maḥatz'', "Strike Phalanges/Companies") was the elite combined strike forces and sayeret unit of the Haganah, the paramilitary organization of the Yishuv (Jewish community) during the period of th ...

members, fought off the attackers. After the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, also known as the First Arab–Israeli War, followed the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine, civil war in Mandatory Palestine as the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. The civil war becam ...

the kibbutz gained another 1,000 dunams. Despite the favourable economic situation of the kibbutz, tensions between members working in agriculture and those who worked in the city grew. The split in the

HaKibbutz HaMeuhad {{refimprove, date=April 2025 HaKibbutz HaMeuhad ({{langx, he, הקיבוץ המאוחד, , The United Kibbutz) was a union of kibbutzim. It had been formed in 1927 by the union of several kibbutz bodies and was associated with Ahdut HaAvoda party. ...

movement was a further blow to the kibbutz, and departing residents left it weakened. In 1952 it was decided to dissolve the kibbutz. Following its dissolution, it was proposed that a settlement for 400

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

from the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

be built on the land. However, they failed to arrive and instead it was converted into a neighborhood. During the

First Intifada The First Intifada (), also known as the First Palestinian Intifada, was a sustained series of Nonviolent resistance, non-violent protests, acts of civil disobedience, Riot, riots, and Terrorism, terrorist attacks carried out by Palestinians ...

, In 1992, Following a high-speed chase, three would-be Hamas

suicide bombers A suicide attack (also known by a wide variety of other names, see below) is a deliberate attack in which the perpetrators knowingly sacrifice their own lives as part of the attack. These attacks are a form of murder–suicide that is ofte ...

were arrested by police forces in Ramat Ef'al. When police inspected their car, they found it rigged with a bomb. During interrogation of the three arrested suspects, Israeli security forces learned the name of the bomb planner - Yahya Ayyash, also known as The Engineer. This was the first known bomb Ayyash made and it had many similarities to his other works.

Landmarks

The Tabenkin Memorial (''Yad Tabenkin'') in Ramat Efal commemorates Yosef Tabenkin and the exploits of the

Harel Brigade The 10th "Harel" Brigade (, ''Hativat Harel'') is a reserve infantry brigade of the Israel Defense Forces, today part of the Southern Command. It played a critical role in the 1948 Palestine war. It is one of the former divisions of the Palmach ...

during

Notable residents

* Doron Sheffer, former professional basketball player * Carmel Shama, former member of the

Knesset The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...

References

{{Authority control Populated places established in 1947 Former kibbutzim Ramat Gan 1947 establishments in Mandatory Palestine