Arad, Israel
Encyclopedia
South District (Israel)
The Southern District is one of Israel's six administrative districts, and is the largest in terms of land area as well as the most sparsely populated. It covers most of the Negev desert, as well as the Arabah valley. The population of the Southern District is 1,002,400. It is 86% Jewish and 14%...
of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. It is located on the border of the Negev
Negev
The Negev is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The Arabs, including the native Bedouin population of the region, refer to the desert as al-Naqab. The origin of the word Neghebh is from the Hebrew root denoting 'dry'...
and Judean Desert
Judean desert
The Judaean Desert is a desert in Israel and the West Bank that lies east of Jerusalem and descends to the Dead Sea. It stretches from the northeastern Negev to the east of Beit El, and is marked by terraces with escarpments. It ends in a steep escarpment dropping to the Dead Sea and the Jordan...
s, 25 kilometres (15.5 mi) west of the Dead Sea
Dead Sea
The Dead Sea , also called the Salt Sea, is a salt lake bordering Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank to the west. Its surface and shores are below sea level, the lowest elevation on the Earth's surface. The Dead Sea is deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world...
and 45 kilometres (28 mi) east of the city Beersheba
Beersheba
Beersheba is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the seventh-largest city in Israel with a population of 194,300....
. The city is home to a diverse population of 23,400 including Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
, both secular and religious, Bedouins and Black Hebrews, as well as native-born Israelis and new immigrants. The city is notable for its clean, dry air and serves as a major attraction to asthmatics worldwide.
Although attempts to settle the area were made as early as 1921, the city was founded only in November 1962 as one of the last two development town
Development town
Development town is a term used to refer to the new settlements that were built in Israel during the 1950s in order to provide permanent housing to a large influx of Jewish refugees from Arab countries, Holocaust survivors from Europe and new immigrants , who arrived to the newly established State...
s to be established, and the first planned city in Israel. Arad's population grew significantly with the Aliyah from the Commonwealth of Independent States in the 1990s
Aliyah from the Commonwealth of Independent States in the 1990s
Russian Jewish immigration to Israel began en masse in the 1990s when the liberal government of Mikhail Gorbachev opened the borders of the USSR and allowed Jews to leave the country for Israel.-History:...
, and peaked in 2002 at 24,500 residents. The city has seen a decline in population ever since.
As the second-largest city in Israel in terms of jurisdiction, Arad contains a number of large public places and facilities, such as the ruins of Tel Arad
Tel Arad
Tel Arad or 'old' Arad is located west of the Dead Sea, about 10 km west of modern Arad in an area surrounded by mountain ridges which is known as the Arad Plain. The site is divided into a lower city and an upper hill which holds the only ever discovered 'House of Yahweh' in the land of...
, the Arad Park, an airfield serving domestic flights, and Israel's first legal race circuit. It is also well known for its annual music festival, which was one of the most popular annual music events in the country until 1995.
History
Arad is named after the Biblical CanaanCanaan
Canaan is a historical region roughly corresponding to modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and the western parts of Jordan...
ite town located at Tel Arad
Tel Arad
Tel Arad or 'old' Arad is located west of the Dead Sea, about 10 km west of modern Arad in an area surrounded by mountain ridges which is known as the Arad Plain. The site is divided into a lower city and an upper hill which holds the only ever discovered 'House of Yahweh' in the land of...
(a Biblical archaeology
Biblical archaeology
For the movement associated with William F. Albright and also known as biblical archaeology, see Biblical archaeology school. For the interpretation of biblical archaeology in relation to biblical historicity, see The Bible and history....
site famous for the discovery of ostraca
Ostracon
An ostracon is a piece of pottery , usually broken off from a vase or other earthenware vessel. In archaeology, ostraca may contain scratched-in words or other forms of writing which may give clues as to the time when the piece was in use...
) which is located approximately 8 kilometres (5 mi) west of modern Arad. The Bible (Judges 1:16) describes it as a Canaanite stronghold whose king kept the Israelites from moving from the Negev
Negev
The Negev is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The Arabs, including the native Bedouin population of the region, refer to the desert as al-Naqab. The origin of the word Neghebh is from the Hebrew root denoting 'dry'...
to the Judean Mountains
Judean Mountains
The Judaean Mountains, ;, also Judaean Hills and Hebron Hills is a mountain range in Israel and the West Bank where Jerusalem and several other biblical cities are located. The mountains reach a height of 1,000 m.-Geography:...
, although Tel Arad was destroyed over 1,200 years before the arrival of the Israelites. However, Shoshenq I
Shoshenq I
Hedjkheperre Setepenre Shoshenq I , , also known as Sheshonk or Sheshonq I , was a Meshwesh Berber king of Egypt—of Libyan ancestry—and the founder of the Twenty-second Dynasty...
's chronicles seem to mention a settlement in Tel Arad. During the Byzantine
Byzantine
Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...
period, the location was still correctly identified by Eusebius, and the name Arad was preserved by the Bedouins.
Foundation
The first modern attempt to settle the area was made by the YishuvYishuv
The Yishuv or Ha-Yishuv is the term referring to the body of Jewish residents in Palestine before the establishment of the State of Israel...
, the body of Jewish residents in Mandate Palestine
Mandate Palestine
Mandate Palestine existed while the British Mandate for Palestine, which formally began in September 1923 and terminated in May 1948, was in effect...
, on 23 February 1921, when the British Mandate government allowed released soldiers from the Jewish Legion
Jewish Legion
The Jewish Legion was the name for five battalions of Jewish volunteers established as the British Army's 38th through 42nd Battalions of the Royal Fusiliers...
to settle in the area. Nine men and two women attempted the task, but after four months were forced to leave because water was not found in the area.
It was not until 15 November 1960, when a planning unit (and a full committee on 29 December) were appointed by the Israeli cabinet to examine the possibility of settlement in the northeastern Negev
Negev
The Negev is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The Arabs, including the native Bedouin population of the region, refer to the desert as al-Naqab. The origin of the word Neghebh is from the Hebrew root denoting 'dry'...
desert and the Arad area. An initial budget of 50,000 Israeli liras was given to the project which was to be under the leadership of Aryeh Eliav
Aryeh Eliav
Arie "Lova" Eliav, born Lev Lipschitz , , was an Israeli politician and former member of the Knesset.-Biography:...
. On 31 January 1961, the final location of the new city was decided (3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) southwest of Mount Kidod), as well as details about road and water connections. During March 1961, a full city plan for 10,000 and then 20,000 residents was conceived, along with a corresponding map. Yona Pitelson served as the chief architect of the city and was instrumental in its design.
Arad's plan took account of the area's topography and climate. Building blocks were constructed in a way that protected large inside areas from desert sun and winds. Higher density residential areas were also built first in order to give residents the feel of a city and shorten walking distances.
Growth to a city
Kibbutz
A kibbutz is a collective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economic branches, including industrial plants and high-tech enterprises. Kibbutzim began as utopian communities, a combination of socialism and Zionism...
and ex-moshav
Moshav
Moshav is a type of Israeli town or settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists during the second aliyah...
members, who were seeking an environment free of the urban ills of overcrowding, traffic, noise, and pollution. The founding ceremony was held on 21 November, and attended by then-Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion
David Ben-Gurion
' was the first Prime Minister of Israel.Ben-Gurion's passion for Zionism, which began early in life, led him to become a major Zionist leader and Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization in 1946...
. It was one of the last development town
Development town
Development town is a term used to refer to the new settlements that were built in Israel during the 1950s in order to provide permanent housing to a large influx of Jewish refugees from Arab countries, Holocaust survivors from Europe and new immigrants , who arrived to the newly established State...
s to be founded. According to the city website, Arad was the first pre-planned city in Israel.
Aliyah
Aliyah is the immigration of Jews to the Land of Israel . It is a basic tenet of Zionist ideology. The opposite action, emigration from Israel, is referred to as yerida . The return to the Holy Land has been a Jewish aspiration since the Babylonian exile...
(Jewish immigrants), mostly from the Soviet Union
Aliyah from the Soviet Union in the 1970s
In the 1970s a major immigration wave of Soviet Union Jews went to Israel.-Background:A mass emigration was politically undesirable for the Soviet regime. In the wake of Israel's victory in the Six-Day War in 1967, the USSR broke off the diplomatic relations with the Jewish state...
, but also from English speaking countries and Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
, and its population increased from 4,000 in 1969 to 10,500 in 1974. During the first half of the 1990s, Arad absorbed 6,000 immigrants from the former Soviet Union. The late Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin
Yitzhak Rabin
' was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–77 and 1992 until his assassination in 1995....
, declared Arad a city on 29 June 1995.
Flag and emblem
Square (geometry)
In geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral. This means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles...
with a hill and a flame. The hill represents Mount Kidod, a hill in the northeastern part of the city, and the flame represents natural gas, which was extracted in the area in Arad's early days and spurred the city's growth. The emblem was adopted on 19 May 1966.
The flag of Arad is a state flag , a rectangle with a 2:3 ratio, which has a light blue background and shows the emblem in the center with the Hebrew text for "Municipality of Arad" at the top and the English text "City of ARAD Israel" (or variations thereof) and the bottom. This is the de facto flag, and there is no law or edict making it official.
Geography
Judean desert
The Judaean Desert is a desert in Israel and the West Bank that lies east of Jerusalem and descends to the Dead Sea. It stretches from the northeastern Negev to the east of Beit El, and is marked by terraces with escarpments. It ends in a steep escarpment dropping to the Dead Sea and the Jordan...
in southern Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. It is located 23 kilometres (14.3 mi) west of the southern end of the Dead Sea
Dead Sea
The Dead Sea , also called the Salt Sea, is a salt lake bordering Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank to the west. Its surface and shores are below sea level, the lowest elevation on the Earth's surface. The Dead Sea is deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world...
, and is by road, 45 kilometres (28 mi) east of Beer Sheva, 111 kilometres (69 mi) south of Jerusalem, 138 kilometres (85.7 mi) south east of Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
, and 219 kilometres (136.1 mi) north of the southern-most city of Eilat.
The city spans an area of 93140 metric dunam (93.1 km²; 36 sq mi), one of the largest municipal areas in Israel, even though its urban area is much smaller. In 1993, the city's jurisdiction was 73934.3 metric dunam (73.9 km²; 28.5 sq mi), still many times larger than the urban area. The historical site of Tel Arad and the Arad Park (also known as Ran Grove) can also be found within its municipal area, west of the urban core. Arad also has a commercial landing strip located slightly to the south of its urban core. It borders the Tamar
Tamar Regional Council
The Tamar Regional Council is a regional council in Israel's South District, on the south and western edges of the Dead Sea along the Arava valley. The council was established in 1955 with the opening of lodging at Sodom near the Dead Sea Works, and its jurisdiction covers an area of 1,650 km2.The...
and Abu Basma
Abu Basma Regional Council
Abu Basma Regional Council is a regional council covering several Bedouin villages in the northwestern Negev desert of Israel.The council was formed as a result of Government Resolution 881 of 29 September 2003, known as the "Abu Basma Plan", which stated the need to establish seven new Bedouin...
regional councils, and the closest local municipality to Arad is the Bedouin local council Kuseife
Kuseife
Kuseife is a Bedouin town in the Southern District of Israel.According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics , the population of Kuseife was 10,300 in December 2006...
.
Neighborhoods
Each neighborhood in Arad contains streets named in a thematic manner, for example, a neighborhood where all streets are named after jewels. The exception to this are the four central quarters which have more conventional street names, and the original two neighborhoods (Rishonim and Ne'urim). The themed neighborhoods make up the entire city north of Highway 31Highway 31 (Israel)
Highway 31 is an inter-city highway in southern Israel. It begins at Zohar junction south of Neve Zohar, where it meets Highway 90 just west of the Dead Sea. It passes through Arad, Kuseife, Hura, Lakiya and Lehavim, and it terminates at HaNasi junction near Eshel HaNasi.As of 2001, the western...
. South of the highway is Arad's industrial zone (the northern area being the light industry zone). The neighborhoods are as follows:
| Name | Meaning | Theme |
|---|---|---|
| Avishur | Abishur Abishur Abishur - . He is one of the two sons of Shammai of the tribe of Judah. .-External links:* Abishur*.*.... |
|
| Tlalim | Dew Dew [Image:Dew on a flower.jpg|right|220px|thumb|Some dew on an iris in Sequoia National Park]]Dew is water in the form of droplets that appears on thin, exposed objects in the morning or evening... (plural) |
|
| Leva'ot | Lion Lion The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger... esses |
|
| Ye'elim | Ibexes | |
| Gevim | Cistern Cistern A cistern is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. Cisterns are distinguished from wells by their waterproof linings... s |
Fluvial Fluvial Fluvial is used in geography and Earth science to refer to the processes associated with rivers and streams and the deposits and landforms created by them... bodies |
| Halamish | Flint Flint Flint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as a variety of chert. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones. Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey, black, green, white, or brown in colour, and... |
Fruits |
| Yehoshafat (under construction) | Jehoshaphat Jehoshaphat Jehoshaphat was the fourth king of the The Kingdom of Judah, and successor of his father Asa. His children included Jehoram, who succeeded him as king... |
Kings of Israel and Judea |
| Rishonim | Pioneers | |
| Ne'urim | Youth | |
| Renanim (under construction) | Joys | Music |
| Ayanot | Springs Spring (hydrosphere) A spring—also known as a rising or resurgence—is a component of the hydrosphere. Specifically, it is any natural situation where water flows to the surface of the earth from underground... |
Springs |
| Ma'of | Flight | Birds |
| Hatzavim | Squills Scilla Scilla is a genus of about 50 bulb-forming perennial herbs in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae, native to woodlands, subalpine meadows, and seashores throughout Europe and Asia... |
Military |
| Harduf | Oleander Oleander Nerium oleander is an evergreen shrub or small tree in the dogbane family Apocynaceae, toxic in all its parts. It is the only species currently classified in the genus Nerium. It is most commonly known as oleander, from its superficial resemblance to the unrelated olive Olea, but has many other... |
Heights (figurative) |
| Shaked | Almond Almond The almond , is a species of tree native to the Middle East and South Asia. Almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree... |
Plants |
| Rotem | Broom Broom (shrub) Brooms are a group of evergreen, semi-evergreen, and deciduous shrubs in the subfamily Faboideae of the legume family Fabaceae, mainly in the three genera Chamaecytisus, Cytisus and Genista, but also in many other small genera . All genera in this group are from the tribe Genisteae... |
Jewels |
Geology and topography
Loess
Loess is an aeolian sediment formed by the accumulation of wind-blown silt, typically in the 20–50 micrometre size range, twenty percent or less clay and the balance equal parts sand and silt that are loosely cemented by calcium carbonate...
land, while the eastern part is made up of sedimentary rock
Sedimentary rock
Sedimentary rock are types of rock that are formed by the deposition of material at the Earth's surface and within bodies of water. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause mineral and/or organic particles to settle and accumulate or minerals to precipitate from a solution....
, including chalk
Chalk
Chalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. Calcite is calcium carbonate or CaCO3. It forms under reasonably deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite plates shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores....
, flint
Flint
Flint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as a variety of chert. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones. Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey, black, green, white, or brown in colour, and...
and dolomite
Dolomite
Dolomite is a carbonate mineral composed of calcium magnesium carbonate CaMg2. The term is also used to describe the sedimentary carbonate rock dolostone....
.
Arad's elevation ranges between approximately 361.5 and 631.1 m (1,186 and 2,070.5 ) above sea level
Above mean sea level
The term above mean sea level refers to the elevation or altitude of any object, relative to the average sea level datum. AMSL is used extensively in radio by engineers to determine the coverage area a station will be able to reach...
, a notable peak being Mount Kidod (600 m (1,969 ft)), located at the northeastern point of the city and named after Ras al-Kadadeh, the Arabic name for the hill. Other peaks within the municipal borders include Mount Kina (635 m (2,083 ft)) and Mount Brir (537 m (1,762 ft)). There are several wadi
Wadi
Wadi is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some cases, it may refer to a dry riverbed that contains water only during times of heavy rain or simply an intermittent stream.-Variant names:...
s that pass through Arad, notably the Ye'elim Stream (which runs along Highway 31) and Tze'elim Stream. Others include the Hesed, Keisan, Kidod, Kina, Malhata, Pra'im, Tavya, and other streams.
Climate
Between 1964 and 1974, Arad's average temperature in January was 11 °C (51.8 °F), and 27 °C (80.6 °F) in July. The average yearly precipitation between 1960 and 1990 was 150 millimetres (5.9 in), and 158 millimetres (6.2 in) between 1962 and 1978. Arad is thus situated in an arid area, where most precipitation falls in the winter months of December, January and February. It does however, on rare occasions snows. Two examples are the massive snowstorm during the 1991–92 winter that swept through entire mountainous of the Negev and January's snowstorm of 2008.Demographics
Israel Central Bureau of Statistics
The Israel Central Bureau of Statistics , abbreviated CBS, is an Israeli government office established in 1949 to carry out research and publish statistical data on all aspects of Israeli life, including population, society, economy, industry, education and physical infrastructure.It is headed by a...
, of Arad's 23,300 2005 population, 82% were Jews, and another 17.2% were other non-Arabs. 11,100 (~47.6%) were men and 12,200 were women. 42.9% (the second highest in the country) were immigrants since 1990. Arad's population peaked in 2002 at 24,500. Since then, it has been undergoing a steady decline, with a 23,300 low in 2006. However, CBS estimates that the population has risen to 23,400 in 2007. Arad's former mayor, Moty Brill, said that the reason for the city's decline is its failure to absorb the massive immigration from Russia. In early 2007, a study ordered by the Israeli Housing and Construction Ministry
Housing and Construction Minister of Israel
The Ministry of Housing and Construction is a portfolio in the Israeli cabinet. The ministry was created in 1961, and until 1977 it was known as the Ministry of Housing. Construction was also previously part of the Labour and Construction ministry during the provisional government between 1948 and...
found that Arad suffered from a negative image, and described it a "settlement that drives residents away". In March, The Ministerial Committee on Development in the Negev and Galilee approved a plan to move the State Archives from Jerusalem to Arad and to subsidize the costs of land development for reserve soldiers, anticipating the IDF's plan to relocate its training bases to the Negev.
In 2005, Arad had 10,227 (~43.9%) salaried workers and 476 (~2%) self-employed. 10,474 were receiving children's benefits, 290 were receiving unemployment benefits, and 2,010 were receiving income guarantee. The average monthly income for self-employed workers was NIS 5,694, up 10.2% from 2004's 5,165, with salaried employees earning an average of NIS 5,686 (NIS 7,531 for men and NIS 3,904 for women).
The IDF
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
's City of Training Bases, which is located near Beersheba
Beersheba
Beersheba is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the seventh-largest city in Israel with a population of 194,300....
and under construction, hopes to bring thousands of soldiers (mostly officers, senior NCOs and other staff) to live in the Negev, including Arad. Orli Yehezkel, the CEO of the Ministry for the Development of the Negev and Galilee, told in her visit to Arad that NIS 4.5 million will be invested in Arad, including a subsidy of NIS 1,000 per family per month for two years for families of soldiers wishing to move to Arad.
Economy
Among the companies with manufacturing plants in Arad are Arad Textile Industries, one of Israel's largest producers of towel
Towel
A towel is a piece of absorbent fabric or paper used for drying or wiping. It draws moisture through direct contact, often using a blotting or a rubbing motion. Common household textile towels are made from cotton, rayon, bamboo, nonwoven fibers or a few other materials.-Types of towels:* A bath...
s, Motorola
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, which was eventually divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011, after losing $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009...
Israel, A.M.S. Electronics who manufacture printed circuit board
Printed circuit board
A printed circuit board, or PCB, is used to mechanically support and electrically connect electronic components using conductive pathways, tracks or signal traces etched from copper sheets laminated onto a non-conductive substrate. It is also referred to as printed wiring board or etched wiring...
s and electronic products, El-Ran Timber Industries, Jordael who manufacture cosmetic products, and a Unilever Shefa Israel cereal plant. Since 1971, Arad has been producing phosphoric acid
Phosphoric acid
Phosphoric acid, also known as orthophosphoric acid or phosphoric acid, is a mineral acid having the chemical formula H3PO4. Orthophosphoric acid molecules can combine with themselves to form a variety of compounds which are also referred to as phosphoric acids, but in a more general way...
, made from brine
Brine
Brine is water, saturated or nearly saturated with salt .Brine is used to preserve vegetables, fruit, fish, and meat, in a process known as brining . Brine is also commonly used to age Halloumi and Feta cheeses, or for pickling foodstuffs, as a means of preserving them...
collected from the Dead Sea, and phosphates from the nearby Tzefa. Rotem Amfert Negev Ltd, a subsidiary of Israel Chemicals Ltd (ICL), has been planning a new phosphate plant in the Sdeh Brir area for several years. In 2008, the Ministry of the Environment decided not to contest the company's bid, despite studies showing it may increase air pollution-related deaths in the area.
Tourism
Other than the annual music festival, Arad has two main tourist venues—its clean air, which brings asthmatics from all over the world to the city, and its proximity to the Dead SeaDead Sea
The Dead Sea , also called the Salt Sea, is a salt lake bordering Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank to the west. Its surface and shores are below sea level, the lowest elevation on the Earth's surface. The Dead Sea is deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world...
, which allows tourists to pay much less for accommodation as well as having municipal services nearby, and still be able to easily reach the sea. To that end, there are three hotels in the city—Inbar, Yefe Nof Arad and Margoa Arad. However, Arad's municipality is trying to encourage other tourist venues, such as hiking and ecological tourism. Additionally, travellers to Masada
Masada
Masada is the name for a site of ancient palaces and fortifications in the South District of Israel, on top of an isolated rock plateau, or horst, on the eastern edge of the Judean Desert, overlooking the Dead Sea. Masada is best known for the violence that occurred there in the first century CE...
may also prefer to stay in Arad, which is the closest (22 km (13.7 mi) by road) urban settlement to this popular site, and the only way to reach its western side. On the outskirts of Arad, near the hotel area, there is a large white monument conceived by Yigal Tumarkin
Yigal Tumarkin
Yigal Tumarkin is an Israeli painter and sculptor. He is also known as Igael Tumarkin.-Biography:...
in 1968, called Mitzpe Mo'av (Mo'av Lookout), which also offers a view of the Judean Desert
Judean desert
The Judaean Desert is a desert in Israel and the West Bank that lies east of Jerusalem and descends to the Dead Sea. It stretches from the northeastern Negev to the east of Beit El, and is marked by terraces with escarpments. It ends in a steep escarpment dropping to the Dead Sea and the Jordan...
.
The Israel National Trail
Israel National Trail
The Israel National Trail, is a hiking path that crosses the entire country of Israel. Its northern end is at Dan, near the Lebanese border in the far north of the country, and it extends to Eilat at the southernmost tip of Israel on the Red Sea, a length of approximately 940 km...
passes through Arad, between Mount Kina and Tel Arad
Tel Arad
Tel Arad or 'old' Arad is located west of the Dead Sea, about 10 km west of modern Arad in an area surrounded by mountain ridges which is known as the Arad Plain. The site is divided into a lower city and an upper hill which holds the only ever discovered 'House of Yahweh' in the land of...
, a major archeological dig and tourist attraction. Although not located within Arad's jurisdiction, the Zohar Peak (552 m (1,811 ft)) and Zohar Lookout (Mitzpe Zohar) are common hiking and biking destinations on the national trail. The trails codenamed 11335 and 11240 run along the national trail in this area.
Culture and entertainment
Samuel M. Rubin
Samuel M. Rubin was a concessionaire and businessman.He is best known for introducing popcorn to movie theaters in New York in the 1930s, earning him the nickname "Sam the Popcorn Man"....
and located on Ben Yair Street near the city's only mall, the Arad Mall. It was built in 1983 and contains the Arad Museum, Arad's public library, a concert hall, a tourist information center about the Judean and Negev deserts (called Arad Visitor Center, founded in 1989), which is temporarily closed, and various related offices.
The Oron Theater (formerly also a cinema), planned by the architect Menachem Cohen
Menachem Cohen
-Biography:Born in Jerusalem during the Mandate era, Cohen helped organise illegal Jewish immigration from Syria. He worked as a director of the Neighbourhoods Department on Tel Aviv Workers Council, and was a representative of the neighbourhoods on Tel Aviv City Council.In the 1949 Knesset...
, is another important culture and entertainment venue in the city although the city's main cinema, formerly located in the mall, was closed down during the tenure of mayor Moty Brill, due to lack of demand. The city also has an artists quarter, Eshet Lot, which is a section of Arad's industrial center on the road leading to the Dead Sea, mostly being in old hangars no longer used for industry. The city also has a conservatory
Music school
The term music school refers to an educational institution specialized in the study, training and research of music.Different terms refer to this concept such as school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department or conservatory.Music instruction can be provided...
and concert hall. In accordance with the 7 March 2007 decision taken by the Ministry for the Development of the Negev and Galilee to move the national archive of Israel from Jerusalem to Arad, a museum is planned, which will display various gifts given to Israeli politicians over the years.
Arad has been widely known for its Hebrew Music Festival, held annually around summertime since 1982. The festival was a great opportunity for new artists to become known, but also attracted Israel's best musicians and bands as it grew. On 18 July 1995, three teenagers were crushed to death by a falling gate, which was torn down by the pressure of a large crowd whilst trying to watch the farewell concert held by the then popular band Mashina
Mashina
Mashina are an Israeli pop rock band which was active from 1984 to 1995, and then again from 2003 to the present. The band is considered by many to be Israel's most important and influential rock band...
. Since then the festival has become a minor event. Due to this catastrophe, five of the festival's organizers received prison sentences of up to one year.
Parks, recreation and sports
Yom Kippur War
The Yom Kippur War, Ramadan War or October War , also known as the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and the Fourth Arab-Israeli War, was fought from October 6 to 25, 1973, between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria...
), which is located about 8 kilometres (5 mi) west of the city center and measures 3000 metric dunam (3 km²; 1.2 sq mi). Other notable parks include:
- Gan HaPsalim (a.k.a. Park HaNsharim), the park at the entrance to the city, with monuments of various desert animals
- Gan HaHamisha (Garden of the Five), a memorial park for the five residents of Arad who were killed in actionKilled in actionKilled in action is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their own forces at the hands of hostile forces. The United States Department of Defense, for example, says that those declared KIA need not have fired their weapons but have been killed due to...
in the Six-Day WarSix-Day WarThe Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...
. Includes a monument for the soldiers, as well as a stone structure called Amud HaBulbusim (lit. Pillar of the Potatoes, because of its shape), which marks Arad's place in the desert and their residents' control of the territory according to Bedouin tradition – designed by Yona Pitelson. - Northern Park, to the north of the Halamish neighborhood
- Gan Harpatka'ot (Adventure Park), a large playground and open grass area in the Rishonim neighborhood
The main cluster of recreational facilities in the city is located in a small neighborhood known as Ayanot, also called the Sports Town (Kiryat HaSport). The area contains a swimming pool, tennis courts, a country club
Country club
A country club is a private club, often with a closed membership, that typically offers a variety of recreational sports facilities and is located in city outskirts or rural areas. Activities may include, for example, any of golf, tennis, swimming or polo...
and various playgrounds. The city's main football stadium is located outside of this cluster, on the corner of Yehuda and Palmach Streets. The stadium is home to Hapoel Arad, who currently play in Liga Alef
Liga Alef
-History:League football began in Israel in 1949–50, a year after independence. However, the financial and security crises gripping the young nation caused the 1950–51 season to be abandoned before it had started. When football resumed in 1951–52, the new top division went by the name of Liga Alef...
, the third tier of Israeli football
Football in Israel
Football is the most popular sport in Israel. Football as an organised sport first developed in the United Kingdom who controlled Israel during the days of the British Mandate. Israel will be hosting the UEFA U-21 Championship in 2013....
, with occasional relegations to Liga Bet
Liga Bet
-History:League football started in Israel in 1949–50, a year after independence. However, the financial and security crises gripping the young nation caused the 1950–51 season to be abandoned before it had started. When football resumed in 1951–52, the new top division went by the name of Liga...
.
Arad has also hosted a mountain biking
Mountain biking
Mountain biking is a sport which consists of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, using specially adapted mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain.Mountain biking can...
tournament annually since 2000, called Riding Arad, in honor of Itamar Ilya, a soldier killed in action
Killed in action
Killed in action is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their own forces at the hands of hostile forces. The United States Department of Defense, for example, says that those declared KIA need not have fired their weapons but have been killed due to...
in Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
in 1997. In March 2008, the tournament became part of an international Union Cycliste Internationale
Union Cycliste Internationale
Union Cycliste Internationale is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland....
competition, which is co-hosted by Misgav
Misgav Regional Council
The Misgav Regional Council is a regional council in the Galilee region in northern Israel. The regional council is home to 22,000 people, and comprises 35 small towns, mostly community settlements but also several Kibbutzim and Moshavim. The population of 29 of these is primarily Jewish, and 6...
and Ma'alot
Ma'alot-Tarshiha
Ma'alot-Tarshiha is a mixed city in the North District in Israel, some 20 km east of Nahariya, about 600 meter above sea level. The city was established in 1963 through a municipal merger of the Arab town of Tarshiha and the Jewish town of Ma'alot...
. Arad's professional course is 37 kilometres (23 mi) long, whilst the expert course is 22.5 kilometres (14 mi).
Services
Healthcare
Arad does not have a hospital, but there are numerous medical clinics, including ClalitClalit
Clalit, also Klalit is one of Israel's leading health service organizations. Widely known as Kupat Holim Clalit, it was established in 1911 as a mutual aid society...
, Leumit
Leumit Health Fund
Leumit Health Fund is an Israeli HMO, founded in 1933 by the Revisionist Zionist Movement.-History:Leumit Health Fund was established in 1933 in Dr. Yaakov Vinshal's kitchen in Tel Aviv - Israel by physicians who had been dismissed from their work in the General Health Fund at the time of the...
and Maccabi
Maccabi Sherutei Briut
Kupat Holim Maccabi, is the second largest health maintenance organization in Israel. It was founded in 1941 by Jewish doctors who immigrated to Palestine from Germany as an alternative to the health-care program of the Histadrut....
. Emergencies are handled by the single Magen David Adom
Magen David Adom
The Magen David Adom is Israel's national emergency medical, disaster, ambulance and blood bank service. The name means "Red Star of David"...
station, located in the municipal compound.
A medical center was also built in the compound in 2004, named Schaller Medical Centre after Leon and Freda Schaller from London, who were the prime donors. It serves as an emergency ward, but does not have the equipment needed to perform operations, and such patients are transferred to the Soroka Medical Center
Soroka Medical Center
Soroka Medical Center is a hospital in Beersheba, Israel. It is the largest medical center in southern region of the country, and the fourth largest in Israel with approximately 1000 beds. It is owned by Clalit, the largest Health Maintenance Organization in Israel. Soroka services diverse ethnic...
. On average, 10% of the patients are transferred.
Law enforcement
Arad is served by a local Israel PoliceIsrael Police
The Israel Police is the civilian police force of Israel. As with most other police forces in the world, its duties include crime fighting, traffic control, maintaining public safety, and counter-terrorism...
station, located next to the municipal compound and the Magen David Adom station. It is commanded by Superintendent
Superintendent (police)
Superintendent , often shortened to "super", is a rank in British police services and in most English-speaking Commonwealth nations. In many Commonwealth countries the full version is superintendent of police...
Yuval Paz and has 58 members. Arad's station also serves the Sodom area.
Arad's police force was chosen as the exceptional force for 2007, and awarded an award of excellence on 5 March 2008. Among others, a severe reduction in property crime
Property crime
Property crime is a category of crime that includes, among other crimes, burglary, larceny, theft, motor vehicle theft, arson, shoplifting, and vandalism. Property crime only involves the taking of money or property, and does not involve force or threat of force against a victim...
was cited. Arad's force was able to reduce the amount of such crimes from 1,092 in 2003 to just 168 in 2007. On 18 July 2008, Arad police, in a rare incident, shot dead a man threatening to kill his ex-wife with a knife.
Education and religion
Arad has a public elementary school in every central neighborhood (Halamish, Tlalim, Avishur, Leva'ot and Ye'elim (called Ye'elim-Ofarim)), whilst Tlalim is a religious school. There is one public middle school, Re'ut, located near the junction of the Yoshiyahu and HaKana'im streets. The second middle school, Allon, was closed in 2007 and merged into ORTWorld ORT
World ORT is a non-profit non-governmental organization whose mission is the advancement of Jewish and other people through training and education, with past and present activities in over 100 countries....
Arad, the city's only public secondary school, which shares a building with the Re'ut middle school and the former Yigal Allon
Yigal Allon
Yigal Allon was an Israeli politician, a commander of the Palmach, and a general in the IDF. He served as one of the leaders of Ahdut HaAvoda party and the Israeli Labor party, and acting Prime Minister of Israel, and was a member of the Knesset and government minister from the 10th through the...
school. In the 2006–07 school year, 57.14% of Arad's 12th graders were eligible for a Bagrut
Bagrut
Te'udat Bagrut is the official Israeli matriculation certificate. The bagrut is similar to the British A-levels, German Abitur, French Baccalauréat, and Austrian Matura...
(matriculation) certificate, compared to a national average of 45.9%. In the 2007–08 year, the number dropped to 49.67%, compared to a national average of 46.3%.
In addition, there are several private and Haredi
Haredi Judaism
Haredi or Charedi/Chareidi Judaism is the most conservative form of Orthodox Judaism, often referred to as ultra-Orthodox. A follower of Haredi Judaism is called a Haredi ....
schools in Arad, such as the Shuvu movement's grades 1–8 school, and the Gerrer
Ger (Hasidic dynasty)
Ger, or Gur is a Hasidic dynasty originating from Ger, the Yiddish name of Góra Kalwaria, a small town in Poland....
Haredi school. Other Haredi schools include the boys' Beit Ya'akov and girls' Kol Ya'akov in the Halamish neighborhood, the Lev Simcha Yeshiva, and the Beit Ya'akov High School. Religious Zionist
Religious Zionism
Religious Zionism is an ideology that combines Zionism and Jewish religious faith...
schools include the Ne'ot Avraham Bnei Akiva
Bnei Akiva
Bnei Akiva is the largest religious Zionist youth movement in the world, with over 125,000 members in 37 countries. It was established in Mandate Palestine in 1929.-History:...
Ulpana, which also provides young women with the guidance to perform volunteer activities in the community, and the Tlalim Elementary School, founded in 1971.
Also in Arad is the Kedem Democratic School, which is an alternative school for students up through the high school level. It allows students to create their own schedules, and choose how they would like to spend their entire day at school.
SOS Children's Village Arad (known as Kfar Neradim) was built in the southern outskirts of Arad and inaugurated on 27 October 1981. It consists of twelve family houses, to accommodate up to 120 children. There is also an SOS Youth Facility to accommodate 12 to 14 youths from the SOS Children's Village. In January 2005, an SOS Social Centre was opened at Arad. It runs a day-care center and various community outreach programmes to support socially weak families. Until fall 2008, the World Union of Jewish Students (WUJS), funded by Jews from New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, had an institute
WUJS Arad Institute
The WUJS Arad Institute was a Jewish educational institute in Arad, Israel established in 1968. In 2006, WUJS Arad came under the sponsorship of Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America...
in Arad which allowed post-college young Jews from around the world to study Israeli society and the Hebrew language. When WUJS's ownership changed, the institute was moved to the center of the country.
Arad has 22 synagogues, of which 11 are Ashkenazi
Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities along the Rhine in Germany from Alsace in the south to the Rhineland in the north. Ashkenaz is the medieval Hebrew name for this region and thus for Germany...
, 9 are Sephardi
Sephardi Jews
Sephardi Jews is a general term referring to the descendants of the Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula before their expulsion in the Spanish Inquisition. It can also refer to those who use a Sephardic style of liturgy or would otherwise define themselves in terms of the Jewish customs and...
, one is Yemenite
Yemenite Jews
Yemenite Jews are those Jews who live, or whose recent ancestors lived, in Yemen . Between June 1949 and September 1950, the overwhelming majority of Yemen's Jewish population was transported to Israel in Operation Magic Carpet...
, and one is Ethiopian. Both the central Ashkenazi
Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities along the Rhine in Germany from Alsace in the south to the Rhineland in the north. Ashkenaz is the medieval Hebrew name for this region and thus for Germany...
and Sephardi
Sephardi Jews
Sephardi Jews is a general term referring to the descendants of the Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula before their expulsion in the Spanish Inquisition. It can also refer to those who use a Sephardic style of liturgy or would otherwise define themselves in terms of the Jewish customs and...
synagogues are located in the Ye'elim neighborhood. There are Gerrer
Ger (Hasidic dynasty)
Ger, or Gur is a Hasidic dynasty originating from Ger, the Yiddish name of Góra Kalwaria, a small town in Poland....
synagogues in Avishur and Halamish, and a Chabad
Chabad
Chabad or Chabad-Lubavitch is a major branch of Hasidic Judaism.Chabad may also refer to:*Chabad-Strashelye, a defunct branch of the Chabad school of Hasidic Judaism*Chabad-Kapust or Kapust, a defunct branch of the Chabad school of Hasidic Judaism...
synagogue in Ye'elim. There are two mikvehs in the city—in the Tlalim and Ayanot neighborhoods. The city also has a small Messianic community that is being accused of illegal missionary activities by the Haredim
Haredi Judaism
Haredi or Charedi/Chareidi Judaism is the most conservative form of Orthodox Judaism, often referred to as ultra-Orthodox. A follower of Haredi Judaism is called a Haredi ....
and certain right-wing groups. Arad's dead are mostly buried in the local cemetery, located in the northeastern outskirts of the city, close to the road to Masada.
Media
Arad had its own local newspaper since its beginning, named Kidod. It was published by the entrepreneurs Eli and Rochale Ziv, who were also two of the founders of Arad. Kidod started as a small leaflet in December 1966 and grew up to a full paper few years later. In its peak, it was circulated, free of charge, in groceries, kiosks, etc., in 3,000 copies each week. Kidod ran for 23 years and had a key role in the cultural and community life of Arad. HaTzvi Arad is the city's current newspaper, and other small publications exist as well.Government
Regional council (Israel)
Regional councils are one of the three types of local government entities found in Israel, with the other two being cities and local councils. As of 2003, there were 53 regional councils in Israel, usually responsible for governing a number of settlements spread across rural areas...
and local council
Local council (Israel)
Local councils are one of the three types of local government found in Israel, with the other two being cities and regional councils. As of 2003, there were 144 local councils in Israel, these being settlements which pass a minimum threshold enough to justify their operations as independent...
, before being designated as a city council
City council (Israel)
A City council is the official designation of a city within Israel's system of local government.City council status may be granted by the Interior Minister to a municipality, usually a local council, whose population surpasses 20,000 and whose character is urban, defined as having areas zoned for...
in 1995. Democratic elections have been held in Arad since 1966, although only Avraham Shochat, Betzalel Tabib and Moty Brill were ever elected or re-elected as the head of the municipality. The first mayor of the city of Arad was Betzalel Tabib who served as both head of the local council and city council. He was replaced by Mordechai Brill in 2003, although due to his inability to pass a yearly budget, Brill was dismissed by the Minister of the Interior Meir Sheetrit
Meir Sheetrit
Meir Sheetrit is a Moroccan-born Israeli politician. He is currently a member of the Knesset for Kadima. He has served as Minister of the Interior, Minister of Housing & Construction, Minister of Finance, Minister of Justice, Minister of Transportation and Minister of Education, Culture &...
in August 2007, and a government-appointed clerk, Gideon Bar-Lev, took his place. An election took place again on April 13, 2010, won by Tali Ploskov of the Yisrael Beiteinu party. The longest serving head of Arad's municipality was Avraham Shochat
Avraham Shochat
Avraham Shochat is a former Israeli politician who twice served as Minister of Finance.-Background:Shochat was born in Tel Aviv during the Mandate era...
who served as head of the local council between 1967 and 1986.
Arad's yearly budget is over 100 million NIS and over $30 million USD. On 27 December 2007, the 2008 budget was unanimously passed at NIS 123 million by the city council. The city's total income for the year is estimated at approximately NIS 119 million.
| Name | Term | Position | Party |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aryeh "Lyova" Eliav Aryeh Eliav Arie "Lova" Eliav, born Lev Lipschitz , , was an Israeli politician and former member of the Knesset.-Biography:... |
1960 – June 1962 | Head of Arad Regional Council | Mapai Mapai Mapai was a left-wing political party in Israel, and was the dominant force in Israeli politics until its merger into the Israeli Labor Party in 1968... |
| Yitzhak Pundak Yitzhak Pundak -Early life:Pundak was born Yitzhak Fundik in Kraków, Poland and immigrated to the British Mandate of Palestine in 1933.-Military career:Pundak's military career started with the Haganah. In 1945, he was an instructor in a platoon commanders' course.... |
June 1962–1965 | Head of Arad Regional Council | |
| Yitzhak Pundak | 1965–1966 | Head of local council | |
| Ze'ev Haimoni | 1966–1967 | Head of local council | Mapam Mapam Mapam was a political party in Israel and is one of the ancestors of the modern-day Meretz party.-History:Mapam was formed by a January 1948 merger of the Hashomer Hatzair Workers Party and Ahdut HaAvoda Poale Zion Movement. The party was originally Marxist-Zionist in its outlook and represented... |
| Avraham Shochat Avraham Shochat Avraham Shochat is a former Israeli politician who twice served as Minister of Finance.-Background:Shochat was born in Tel Aviv during the Mandate era... |
1967–1986 | Head of local council | Labor |
| Betzalel Tabib | 1986 – 29 June 1995 | Head of local council | Labor |
| Betzalel Tabib | 29 June 1995 – October 2003 | Mayor | Labor |
| Mordechai "Moty" Brill | October 2003 – August 2007 | Mayor | |
| Gideon Bar-Lev | October 2007 – April 2010 | Mayor | |
| Tali Ploskov | April 2010–date | Mayor | Yisrael Beiteinu |
While it is not customary for Israeli cities to have major unique/auxiliary laws, many cities have minor laws. In Arad, it is illegal to feed animals in public places. It is also illegal to sell or consume sunflower seed
Sunflower seed
The sunflower seed is the fruit of the sunflower . The term "sunflower seed" is actually a misnomer when applied to the seed in its pericarp . Botanically speaking, it is more properly referred to as an achene. When dehulled, the edible remainder is called the sunflower kernel.There are three types...
s, peanut
Peanut
The peanut, or groundnut , is a species in the legume or "bean" family , so it is not a nut. The peanut was probably first cultivated in the valleys of Peru. It is an annual herbaceous plant growing tall...
s, etc. in public places, due to an anti-littering law enacted in 1965. There are in all 27 auxiliary laws in Arad, which were enacted between 1965 and 2000.
Transportation
Highway 31 (Israel)
Highway 31 is an inter-city highway in southern Israel. It begins at Zohar junction south of Neve Zohar, where it meets Highway 90 just west of the Dead Sea. It passes through Arad, Kuseife, Hura, Lakiya and Lehavim, and it terminates at HaNasi junction near Eshel HaNasi.As of 2001, the western...
, which connects it with Beersheba
Beersheba
Beersheba is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the seventh-largest city in Israel with a population of 194,300....
to the west, and the Dead Sea
Dead Sea
The Dead Sea , also called the Salt Sea, is a salt lake bordering Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank to the west. Its surface and shores are below sea level, the lowest elevation on the Earth's surface. The Dead Sea is deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world...
to the east. It has two junctions within Arad's municipal area—the Arad Junction (within the city itself, with Road 3199), and the Tel Arad Junction (with Highway 80
Highway 80 (Israel)
Highway 80 is a north-south highway in southern Israel, east of Beersheba. It connects Ar'arat an-Naqab in the south to Metzadot Yehuda in the north. It is 34 km long.-Junctions on the route:...
). The local Road 3199 connects Arad with Masada
Masada
Masada is the name for a site of ancient palaces and fortifications in the South District of Israel, on top of an isolated rock plateau, or horst, on the eastern edge of the Judean Desert, overlooking the Dead Sea. Masada is best known for the violence that occurred there in the first century CE...
, but does not connect to the road next to the dead sea (Highway 90). It is therefore the only way to get to Masada's western side.
Arad's airfield, which was first used during the music festival of 1994, is located to the south of the city, and serves domestic flights according to demand. A railway line, which would also go through the Nevatim Airbase, is in the planning stages. Its terminus will be adjacent to the central bus station.
The main bus station of Arad, Arad Central Bus Station, was located on the corner of Jerusalem (Yerushalayim) Street and Jeuda (Yehuda) Street. It has however been closed due to a legal battle between Arad's municipality and the Egged Bus Cooperative
Egged Bus Cooperative
Egged Israel Transport Cooperative Society Ltd , a cooperative owned by its members is the largest transit bus company in Israel. It provides about 55 % of public transport services throughout the country, employs 6,227 workers and has 2,861 buses for more than 928 service routes and 3,103...
, and its bus stops are now located nearby on Jerusalem St. Construction of the central station officially restarted on January 18, 2009. The new station will include seven platforms and a large parking lot for park and ride
Park and ride
Park and ride facilities are car parks with connections to public transport that allow commuters and other people wishing to travel into city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, rail system , or carpool for the rest of their trip...
. The planned cost of the project is NIS 4.5 million.
Buses in Arad are served by the Egged Bus Cooperative and, since 1 June 2007, also the Metropoline
Metropoline
Metropoline is an Israeli bus company, which provides bus routes from Beersheba to Tel Aviv and other destinations, mainly in the Southern District...
company. A multitude of inter-city bus routes are served by the main station, two more inter-city Haredi routes which leave from the north, as well as two inner routes (1 and 2), with two alternatives (1a and 2a). The inter-city routes are as follows:
| Line | Route | Company |
|---|---|---|
| 384 | Beersheba Beersheba Beersheba is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the seventh-largest city in Israel with a population of 194,300.... CBS – Ein Gedi Ein Gedi Ein Gedi is an oasis in Israel, located west of the Dead Sea, near Masada and the caves of Qumran.-Etymology:The name En-gedi is composed of two Hebrew words: ein means spring and gdi means goat-kid. En Gedi thus means "Kid spring."... |
Egged Egged Bus Cooperative Egged Israel Transport Cooperative Society Ltd , a cooperative owned by its members is the largest transit bus company in Israel. It provides about 55 % of public transport services throughout the country, employs 6,227 workers and has 2,861 buses for more than 928 service routes and 3,103... |
| 385 | Beersheba CBS – Ein Bokek Ein Bokek Ein Bokek is a hotel and resort district on the Israeli shore of the Dead Sea, near Neve Zohar. It is under the jurisdiction of the Tamar Regional Council.... |
Egged |
| 386 | Arad (center) – Beersheba Beersheba Beersheba is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the seventh-largest city in Israel with a population of 194,300.... CBS |
Metropoline Metropoline Metropoline is an Israeli bus company, which provides bus routes from Beersheba to Tel Aviv and other destinations, mainly in the Southern District... |
| 388 | Arad (center) – Beersheba Beersheba Beersheba is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the seventh-largest city in Israel with a population of 194,300.... CBS |
Metropoline |
| 388a | Arad (center) – Lehavim Railway Station | Metropoline |
| 389 | Arad (center) – Tel Aviv CBS Tel Aviv Central Bus Station Tel Aviv Central Bus Station, known as the New Central Bus Station , is the main bus station of Tel Aviv, Israel... |
Egged |
| 441 | Arad (center) – Jerusalem CBS Jerusalem Central Bus Station The Jerusalem Central Bus Station is the main bus depot in Jerusalem, Israel and one of the busiest bus stations in the country. Located on Jaffa Road near the entrance to the city, it serves Egged, Superbus and Dan intercity bus routes... (Sundays only) |
Egged |
| 550 | Arad (north) – Bnei Brak | Egged |
| 554 | Arad (north) – Jerusalem Har Hotzvim | Egged |
Notable residents
- Amos OzAmos OzAmos Oz is an Israeli writer, novelist, and journalist. He is also a professor of literature at Ben-Gurion University in Be'er Sheva....
(born 1939), writer
Twin towns — sister cities
Wilmington, DelawareWilmington, Delaware
Wilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States, and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley...
became a sister city of Arad in 1973, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the State of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. Dinslaken
Dinslaken
Dinslaken is a city in the district of Wesel, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is known for its harness horse race track, its now closed coal mine in Lohberg and its wealthy neighborhoods Hiesfeld and Eppinghoven.- Geography :...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
signed a twinning agreement
Town twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
with Arad in 1989. Burlington, Vermont
Burlington, Vermont
Burlington is the largest city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the shire town of Chittenden County. Burlington lies south of the U.S.-Canadian border and some south of Montreal....
, developed a sister city relationship with Arad in 1991. Then Mayor Bezalel Tabib, along with Professor Walid Dajani, who represented Bethlehem
Bethlehem
Bethlehem is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank of the Jordan River, near Israel and approximately south of Jerusalem, with a population of about 30,000 people. It is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate of the Palestinian National Authority and a hub of Palestinian culture and tourism...
, visited Burlington, Vermont
Burlington, Vermont
Burlington is the largest city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the shire town of Chittenden County. Burlington lies south of the U.S.-Canadian border and some south of Montreal....
to sign a three cities cooperative agreement—the first-ever sister-city pacts among American, Palestinian, and Israeli communities.