El'ad

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During the 18th and 19th centuries, El'ad was the site of the Arab village of Al-Muzayri'a. It belonged to the Nahiyeh (sub-district) of Lod that encompassed the area of the present-day city of Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut in the south to the present-day city of El’ad in the north, and from the foothills in the east, through the Lod Valley to the outskirts of Jaffa in the west. This area was home to thousands of inhabitants in about 20 villages, who had at their disposal tens of thousands of hectares of prime agricultural land.{{Cite journal |last=Marom |first=Roy |date=2022 |title=Lydda Sub-District: Lydda and its countryside during the Ottoman period |url=https://www.academia.edu/79946175 |journal=Diospolis - City of God: Journal of the History, Archaeology and Heritage of Lod |volume=8 |pages=103–136}}

The building of El'ad started in the late 1990s, following a government decision in 1990 to build a series of settlements along the seam line with the West Bank under then-housing minister Ariel Sharon,{{cite web |url=http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/business/a-star-settlement-is-born-1.37811 |title=A star settlement is born. In these hard economic times, Elad seems to be the only place that's booming as the ultra-Orthodox are flocking to its green spaces and relatively low house prices |first=Shlomi |last=Shefer |work=Haaretz |date=2002-08-05}} and provide immediate housing for 50,000 residents.{{cite web |url=https://www.fig.net/resources/proceedings/fig_proceedings/fig_2002/Ts8-3/TS8_3_greenberg.pdf |title=City Development in Israel |first=Harry |last=Greenberg |date=19–26 September 2002}} The town was built from scratch as a planned community according to urban planning paradigms not unlike Modi'in and nearby Shoham. While those towns were designed to suit a mixed population of secular and religious Jews, El'ad was originally planned to suit a mixed population of Modern Orthodox/Religious Zionist Jews and ultra-Orthodox Haredi Jews, offering a solution to the acute shortage of affordable housing for Haredi families.

The majority of the population are Haredi Jews. Accordingly, El'ad is built in a way that suits their religious lifestyle, with a larger selection of housing options offering larger than average apartments to accommodate religious families, who tend to have more children than the average national population. Another characteristic is easy access and short walking distances to local education institutions to avoid the need for school transportation costs.

The city was built partially over the ruins of the Palestinian Arab village of Al-Muzayri'a, whose population fled in 1948.{{cite book|last=Kadman|first=Noga|title=Erased from Space and Consciousness: Israel and the Depopulated Palestinian Villages of 1948|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FIdNCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA22|date=7 September 2015|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=978-0-253-01682-9|pages=22–|quote=The urban community of El'ad, set up in 1998, has expanded over the site of the village of Al-Muzayri'a}}

By 1998, El'ad had already achieved local council status; in February 2008, El'ad's official status was changed to a city.{{cite web |url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/125170|title=Ten-Year-Old Hareidi-Religious Community of Elad Named a City|work=Arutz Sheva |date=2008-02-06|last=Fendel|first=Hillel}} The city's current mayor is Yehuda Botbol, a member of the Shas party.{{cite web |url=http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/ashkenazi-and-sephardi-rabbis-battle-over-sabbath-hours-in-elad-1.399590 |title=Ashkenazi and Sephardi rabbis battle over Sabbath hours in Elad |first=Yair |last=Ettinger |work=Haaretz |date=2011-12-05}}

On 5 May 2022 on Israel's Independence Day, in a park in El'ad four people were killed and four wounded in a 2022 El'ad stabbing by two Palestinians.{{Cite news |last=McKernan |first=Bethan |date=2022-05-06 |title=Three people killed and at least four injured in attack in Israeli town of Elad |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/05/three-people-killed-and-at-least-four-injured-in-attack-at-israeli-town-of-elad |access-date=2022-05-06}}

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El'ad is one of the fastest-growing towns in Israel, with an annual population growth of 0.8 percent.{{Cite web |title=אלעד |url=https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/Settlements/Pages/יישובים/אלעד.aspx |access-date=2023-02-09 |website=www.cbs.gov.il |language=he-IL}} The population density per square kilometer is 13.1,{{cite web|url=http://www1.cbs.gov.il/reader/shnaton/templ_shnaton_e.html?num_tab=st02_15&CYear=2010 |title=Population and Density per Sq.Km in Localities Numbering 5,000 Residents and more on 31 XII 2009 |publisher=Israel CBS |date=2009-12-31 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110921135618/http://www1.cbs.gov.il/reader/shnaton/templ_shnaton_e.html?num_tab=st02_15&CYear=2010 |archive-date=2011-09-21 }} median age is 11.{{cite web |url=http://www1.cbs.gov.il/reader/shnaton/templ_shnaton_e.html?num_tab=st02_11x&CYear=2010 |title=Population, by population Group, Religion, Age, Sex and Type of Locality, Average 2009 |publisher=Israel CBS |date=2009-12-31 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120228173009/http://www.cbs.gov.il/reader/shnaton/templ_shnaton_e.html?num_tab=st02_11x&CYear=2010 |archive-date=2012-02-28}} The percentage of those eligible for a matriculation certificate among 12th grade students in the year 2019-2020 was 28.3%. The average monthly salary of an employee during the year 2019 was 6,219 NIS (national average: 9,745 NIS).{{Cite web |title=CBS - Elad Profile, 2020 |url=https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/publications/doclib/2022/local_authorities20_1879/43_1309.pdf |language=He}}

The support center of Ramat Gan-based Israeli company Daronet is located in El'ad. Its workers are ultra-Orthodox women. In 2012, Daronet signed a sales agreement worth {{Nowrap|NIS700,000}} ({{Nowrap|US$180,000}}) with Saudi energy giant Yanar.{{cite news|last=Petersburg|first=Ofer|title=Saudi Oil Giant Partners Up With Israeli Tech Company|url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/business/2012/05/saudi-oil-is-ours.html|access-date=22 May 2012|agency=Yedioth Ahronoth|newspaper=Al-Monitor|date=19 May 2012}}

• Asher Dahan, stabbed and killed Rabbi Elazar Abuhatzeira (1948–2011) for allegedly giving him poor marital advice.
• Avishay Shindler, killed by Palestinians terroristes in 2010 at age 24 while driving near Bnei Naim Junction.
• Eyal Yifrah, 19-year old killed in the 2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers.

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{{Commons category|El'ad}}

• {{Official website|http://www.eld.muni.il/}} {{in lang|he}}

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Category:Cities in Central District (Israel)

Category:Hebrew-language names

Category:Planned communities in Israel

Category:Religious Israeli communities