Kfar Saba

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Kfar Saba (Hebrew: כפר סבא; officially also spelled Kefar Sava) is a city in the Sharon area, Center District of Israel in Israel. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), at the end of 2004 the city had a total population of 79,800.

History

The land, where the city of Kfar Saba now is, was bought in 1892 by a group of Jewish Zionist settlers, who then offered the lands for sale. The acquisition turned out to be unsuccessful, because the lands were located at a desolate, neglected area and was far from any other Jewish settlement. After the failure they were finally bought 1896 by the Baron Edmond James de Rothschild. In 1903, the Baron sold the land to the farmers of Petah Tikva to be populated by the 2nd generation - the immediate descendants of the farmers. However, they in turn sold the land to others, mostly new immigrants. The Ottoman government refused to give building permits, therefore the first settlers were forced to live in huts made of clay and straw. They earned their living by growing almonds, grapes and olives. Only in 1912 the settlers moved to permanent housing.

In World War I, Kfar Saba was on the front line between the British army and the Ottoman army, and was destroyed. At the same time about a thousand residents of Tel Aviv and Jaffa came to live in the town. They had been forcibly deported from their homes by the Ottomans. Due to the pogroms of 1921 these deportees returned to their original cities. In 1922 the original residents returned and in 1924 additional settlers joined them. In this period the cultivation of citrus fruit developed. In 1937 Kfar Saba was declared a local council.

In the time of the Arab Revolt, in 1936-1939, as in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Kfar Saba's population suffered from attacks by Arabs from the Arab, Saba village and other villages in the area. A short time before the Israeli declaration of independence these villages were taken in Operation Medina. In 1962 Kfar Saba was awarded city status. At the time of the Six day war Kfar Saba suffered attacks from the neighboring town of Qalqilya that is located just over the 1949 armistice line with Jordan.