Azor

Azor אָזוֹר‎ أزور‎
Hebrew transcription(s)
• ISO 259	ʔazor
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Azor
Coordinates: 32°1′20.03″N 34°48′40.47″E / 32.0222306°N 34.8112417°ECoordinates: 32°1′20.03″N 34°48′40.47″E / 32.0222306°N 34.8112417°E
District	Tel Aviv
Founded	1948
Government
• Type	Local council (from 1951)
• Head of Municipality	Arie Pechter
Area
• Total	2,415 dunams (2.415 km^2 or 597 acres)
Population (2014)[1]
• Total	11,979
Website	www.azor.muni.il

Location of Azor in the Tel Aviv District

Azor (Hebrew: אָזוֹר, Arabic: أزور‎) (also Azur) is a small town (local council) in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, on the old Jaffa-Jerusalem road southeast of Tel Aviv. Established in 1948 on the site of the Arab village of Yazur, Azor was granted local council status in 1951.^[2] In 2014 it had a population of 11,979, and has a jurisdiction of 2,415 dunams (2.415 km²; 0.932 sq mi)^[3]

Etymology

Azor was named for the ancient city of Azur (lit. mighty, heroic), preserved in the name of the Arab village of Yazur.^[2] The council of the new village named it Mishmar HaShiv'a ('Guardian of the Seven') in honour of seven Jewish soldiers killed near there in 1948, but the government committee in charge of assigning names forced them to change it to Azor on the grounds that preserving Biblical names was more important.^[4] However, another new village nearby was later named Mishmar HaShiv'a.^[4]

History

See on the page of the preceding Arab village, Yazur.

Notable residents

• Matvey Natanzon, backgammon player^[5]
• Margalit Tzan'ani^[6]

References

1. 2014 populations Israel Central Bureau of Statistics
2. "Azur (Israel)". Retrieved 2 April 2015.
3. "Local Authorities in Israel 2005, Publication #1295 - Municipality Profiles - Azor" (PDF) (in Hebrew). Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 2008-04-17.
4. Meron Benvenisti (2002). Sacred Landscape. University of California Press. pp. 32–33.
5. Raffi Khatchadourian (May 13, 2013). "The Chaos of the Dice". The New Yorker. Retrieved May 14, 2013.
6. Don't mess around with me, Haaretz