Nesher

This article is about the city. For the fighter aircraft, see IAI Nesher. For the beer, see Nesher Malt.
Nesher
  • נֶשֶׁר
  • نيشير
Hebrew transcription(s)
  ISO 259 Nešr
Nesher
Coordinates: 32°46′N 35°03′E / 32.767°N 35.050°E / 32.767; 35.050Coordinates: 32°46′N 35°03′E / 32.767°N 35.050°E / 32.767; 35.050
District Haifa
Founded 1925
Government
  Type City
  Mayor Avi Binamo
Area
  Total 12,090 dunams (12.09 km2 or 4.67 sq mi)
Population (2010)
  Total 23,000
Name meaning Eagle

Nesher (Hebrew: נֶשֶׁר) is a city in the Haifa District of Israel. In 2011, Nesher had a population of 23,000. The mayor of Nesher is Avi Binamo.

History

Nesher Cement factory, 1924

Nesher was founded in 1924 as a workers town for the Nesher Cement factory, established in September 1923 by Michael Pollack, a Jewish industrialist from Russia. The area was swampy and malaria-infested, but employees of the factory gradually moved there with their families, bringing the population to 1,500.[1] Nesher was floated as a public company in 1925.[2] In 1929, the Arabs of Balad al-Sheikh attacked the factory and burned down a farm.[3]

By the mid-1930s, Nesher Cement had 700 employees, both Jewish and Arab.[2]

In 1948, thousands of Jewish immigrants from Europe, Iraq and North Africa settled in Nesher. In 1952, a local council was formed comprising four neighborhoods – Nesher, Giv’at Nesher, Ben-Dor and Tel Hanan. The first mayor was Yehuda Shimroni.[4]

Demographics

CBS statistics for 2005 show Nesher's ethnic makeup as 99.5% Jewish and other non-Arabs. 30.7% of the population in 2005 were immigrants who came to Israel after 1990.[5]

Education

The city’s education system comprises 6 elementary schools, one comprehensive high school, two middle schools and 36 kindergartens and day care centers with an enrollment of 4,000 pupils. Over 70% of Nesher’s high school students take the Bagrut matriculation exams, with a pass rate of 98%, one of the highest rates in Israel. Nesher's high school won the Israeli Education Prize twice in the span of a decade.[4]

Twinning and cultural exchange

In 2005, the Broward County Jewish Federation established a partnership with Nesher in an effort to create a people-to-people cultural exchange program that includes high school and college student exchanges and video conferencing for events such as school celebrations and concerts.[6]

References

Panorama of Nesher View to Mt. Carmel

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nesher.
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