[lwptoc]
Netanya (God’s gift) is a city in Israel’s Northern Central District and the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is located 30 kilometers (18.64 miles) north of Tel Aviv and 56 kilometers (34.80 miles) south of Haifa, between the ‘Poleg’ stream and Wingate Institute in the south and the ‘Avichail’ stream in the north. Nathan Straus, a notable Jewish American trader and philanthropist in the early twentieth century, was honored with the name Netanya.
The city’s 14 kilometers (8.7 miles) of beaches have made it a famous tourist destination. Furthermore, the city is well-known for its big immigrant population. Immigrants from the former Soviet Union, France, and Ethiopia make up a significant portion of the city’s population, and the city also has a sizable community of English-speaking immigrants from the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.
According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), the city has a total population of 202,428 at the end of 2014. A further 150,000 people reside in local and regional councils within 10 kilometers (6 miles) of Netanya, which acts as a regional hub for them. Miriam Feirberg is the mayor of the city.