Kiryat Gat

Etymology

Kiryat Gat was mistakenly named for Gath, one of the five major cities of the Philistines. In Hebrew, "gat" means "winepress". In the 1950s, archaeologists found ruins at a nearby tell named Tel Erani and identified it as the Philistine city of Gath. Later archeologists proved this to be incorrect, but not before Kiryat Gat had been named in 1954. It proved too difficult to subsequently change the city’s name. This event cooled earlier enthusiasm for restoring biblical names more widely across the region.

The location most favored for Gath now is Tel es-Safi, thirteen kilometers (13 km) to the northeast.

History

Kiryat Gat was founded in 1954, initially as a ma'abara. The following year it was established as a development town by 18 families from Morocco. It was founded just west of the ruins of the Palestinian Arab village of Iraq al-Manshiyya. The former location of Iraq al-Manshiyya is now within the built-up area of Kiryat Gat. By 1992, Kiryat Gat had grown and spread also onto the land that formerly belonged to the village of Al-Faluja.

The population of Kiryat Gat rose from 4,400 inhabitants in 1958 to 17,000 in 1969, mostly Jewish immigrants from North Africa. The economy was initially based on processing the agricultural produce of the Lachish region, such as cotton and wool. In December 1972, Kiryat Gat's municipal status was upgraded and it became Israel's 31st city.

During the 1990s, the mass immigration of Soviet Jews to Israel brought many new residents to the town and its population grew to 42,500 by 1995. The development of the Rabin industrial zone on the eastern edge of the city, and the opening of Highway 6 further improved the economy of the city.

In 2018, the first residents began moving into Carmei Gat, a new neighborhood to the north of Kiryat Gat. The area has attracted a diverse population, including a significant Anglo community. It has grown to approximately 10,000 housing units, with plans underway to double the city’s population in the coming years.

Climate

Kiryat Gat has a borderline hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Csa) and a hot semi-arid climate (Bsh). winters are moderately rainy and mild, and summers are hot and dry. the annual amount of precipitation is around 405 mm, mostly falls in winter. Mean daily maximum in January is 17 celsius degrees, while in August it is 33 celsius degrees.

Demographics

In 2012, the ethnic makeup of the city was 93.8 percent Jewish. In its early years, Kiryat Gat was populated mainly by Jews of Sephardi/Mizrahi origin. Since the mass immigration of Soviet Jews, approximately one third of the inhabitants hail from the former Soviet Union.

Economy

The Polgat textile factory was the main employer in the town until it closed in the 1990s. In 1999, Intel opened a chip fabrication plant, known as Fab 18, to produce Pentium 4 chips and flash memories. Intel received a grant of $525 million from the Israeli government to build the plant. In February 2006, the cornerstone was laid for Intel's second Kiryat Gat plant, Fab 28. Despite this, Kiryat Gat has one of Israel's highest unemployment rates. In 2021, Intel announced a $10 billion investment in new manufacturing in Kiryat Gat.

The headquarters and small-arms (guns) manufacturing facility of Israeli Weapons Industries is located in Kiryat Gat.

Transportation

Kiryat Gat is served by the Kiryat Gat Railway Station on the Tel Aviv - Be'er Sheva inter-city line of Israel Railways. Kiryat Gat is situated between two major highways, Highway 40 to the west of the town and Highway 6.

Education

Kiryat Gat has 25 schools with an enrollment of 10,676. Of these schools, 18 are elementary schools with a student population of 5,498, and 13 are high schools with a student population of 5,178. In 2001, 54.7% of Kiryat Gat's 12th grade students graduated with a matriculation certificate. Kiryat Gat has a Pedagogic Center, science centers, a computerized library and a center devoted to industry, art and technology. In 2012, a high school student from Kiryat Gat won first prize in the First Step to Nobel Prize in Physics competition.

Twin towns — sister cities

Kiryat Gat is twinned with:

• USA Chicago, United States of America (1998)
• USA Buffalo, United States of America (1977)
• SRB Kruševac, Serbia (1990)

Notable people

• Adi Nes (born 1966), photographer
• Miri Regev (born 1965), politician and a former Brigadier General. She is a member of the Cabinet as the Minister of Culture and Sport from 2015–2020 and the Minister of Transportation since 2020
• Miki Zohar (born 1980), politician. He is a former member of the Kiryat Gat City Council, a member of Knesset from 2015 to 2023, and a member of Cabinet as the Minister of Culture and Sport since 2022.
• Ninet Tayeb (born 1983), singer and actress

References

References

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