“Netanya” was named after the Zionist American philanthropist, Nathan Strauss.

 

In 1928, two of the leaders of the Zionist organization “Bnei Binyamin”, Oved Ben-Ami and Itamar Ben-Avi, traveled to the United States to raise money for the establishment of a town in the Sharon region. They learned of the generosity of Nathan Straus, especially of his many contributions to settlements in Israel. They hoped that by naming the settlement after him, he would be motivated to contribute generously.

 

On June 2nd of that year, they sent Strauss a telegram for his 80th birthday informing him of their decision to name the settlement Netanya in his honor. The leaders of the Yishuv also realized that the name Netanya had additional significance; the name also implied gratitude to the Creator - Netan-Yah (God-Gives) - by allowing the pioneers to continue the lineage of the 12 tribes which inhabited the country, especially the half-tribe of Menasha that settled in the area. For the pioneers of Netanya, it was as if G-d gave them this wilderness, and commanded them to turn it into a flowering garden.

 

The municipal jurisdiction of Netanya spreads over 29,100 acres. Netanya is ranked as the 18th largest city in size. By comparison, the municipal jurisdiction of the Tel Aviv-Jaffa is 52,000 acres, Haifa and Rishon LeZion - 60,000 acres, while the Jerusalem municipal area is about 126,000 acres.