Bitan Aharon

Bitan Aharon (Hebrew: בִּיתַן אַהֲרֹן‎, lit. Aharon's Pavilion) is a moshav in central Israel. Located in the Sharon plain between Hadera and Netanya, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hefer Valley Regional Council. In 2019 it had a population of 152.[1]

Bitan Aharon בִּיתַן אַהֲרֹן بيتان اهارون
Bitan Aharon secretariat building
Bitan Aharon Bitan Aharon
Coordinates: 32°21′56″N 34°52′11″E
Country	Israel
District	Central
Council	Hefer Valley
Affiliation	Agricultural Union
Founded	1936
Population  (2019)[1]	152

History

The moshav was founded in 1936. During its first years the members of the moshav hired workers to plant orange groves while its members lived in the cities. A decade later the village became more developed with new settlers joining. In 1947 it had a population of 100.[2] The village was named after Aharon (Archibald Jacob, "Archie") Freiman, a leader of the World Zionist Organization in Canada and an advisor to Yehoshua Hankin. The two were instrumental in raising the funds to purchase Emek Hefer (the Hefer valley) in the 1920s and to make it available for Jewish settlement.[3]

Bitan Aharon 1947

Bitan Aharon nature reserve

Avenue of ficus trees

A 46-dunam nature reserve was declared in 1968,[4] just east of the moshav. The reserve covers part of the second (middle) Kurkar ridge that runs on a north-south axis in this part of the Israeli coastal plain, and therefore includes a number of ancient rock-hewn tombs and burial caves. Flora includes Ziziphus spina-christi and Pancratium parviflorum.[5]

Notable residents

• Hen Lippin (born 1965), basketball player

References

1. "Population in the Localities 2019" (XLS). Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
2. Jewish National Fund (1949). Jewish Villages in Israel. Jerusalem: Hamadpis Liphshitz Press. p. 191.
3. "Lillian Freiman - Jewish First Lady of the Land." Canadian Jewish News [Toronto] 8 September 2010: B36-B38
4. "List of National Parks and Nature Reserves" (PDF) (in Hebrew). Israel Nature and Parks Authority. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-10-07. Retrieved 2010-09-27.
5. "Bitan Aharon Nature Reserve" (in Hebrew). iNature.info. Retrieved 2010-09-27.