Ramat Ef'al is a neighborhood of Ramat Gan in central Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

. Previously part of Ef'al Regional Council

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 its area was annexed to the neighbouring cities of Ramat Gan, Kiryat Ono and Or Yehuda....

, in 2007 it was transferred to the municipality of Ramat Gan together with Kfar Azar

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 is around 500....

.

History

Ef'al was originally planned to be an urban kibbutz

Urban kibbutz

An urban kibbutz is a form of kibbutz which is located within an existing city. There are currently just over 100 in Israel, totalling around 2,000 members....

, but due to high land prices, it was established on 250 dunams of land purchased by the Jewish National Fund

Jewish National Fund

The Jewish National Fund was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman Palestine for Jewish settlement. The JNF is a quasi-governmental, non-profit organisation...

 near Kfar Azar

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 is around 500....

. The first residents arrived in May 1947, and after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War

1948 Arab-Israeli War

The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, known to Israelis as the War of Independence or War of Liberation The war commenced after the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the creation of an independent Israel at midnight on 14 May 1948 when, following a period of civil war, Arab armies invaded...

 the kibbutz gained another 1,000 dunams from abandoned Arab villages.

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 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

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...

 from the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 would be built on the land. However, they failed to arrive and instead it was converted into a neighborhood. Basketball player Doron Sheffer

Doron Sheffer

Doron Sheffer , is an Israeli professional basketball player formerly with Maccabi Tel Aviv.Sheffer first gained fame at age 21 when he led Hapoel Galil Elyon to a 1993 victory in the Israeli League semifinals over Maccabi Tel Aviv...

 is from the neighborhood.

Neighborhood

Ramat Ef'al consists mostly of upscale residential houses. The neighborhood also consists of some shops, a few public parks, a community sports center, a school, and the well-known Seminar Ef'al.

Economy

The economy of Ramat Ef'al is dominated by a trio of food establishments including a supermarket, a café, and a pizzeria (Papa Gino's). There is also a convenient store, a small toy/gambling store, and a barber shop. Due to Ramat Ef'al's relatively small amount of shops, many residents outsource their spending to other nearby cities, most notably Tel-Aviv and Ramat Gan.