Lehavim () is an affluent hamlet in southern

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. Founded in 1983 and located in the northern

Negev The Negev ( ; ) or Naqab (), is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its southern end is the Gulf of Aqaba and the resort town, resort city ...

around 15 km north of

Beersheba Beersheba ( / ; ), officially Be'er-Sheva, is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the centre of the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in Israel, the eighth-most p ...

, it is a local council. In it had a population of .

History

Lehavim, originally called "Givat Lahav," covers an area of 2,525

dunam A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; ; ; ), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area analogous in role (but not equal) to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amo ...

s (2.5 km²). It is one of

's three satellite towns (the others are

Omer Omer may refer to: __NOTOC__ * Omer (unit), an ancient unit of measure used in the era of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem * The Counting of the Omer (''sefirat ha'omer''), a 49 day period in the Jewish calendar People * A variant spelling of the g ...

and Meitar). Most of the inhabitants commute to Beersheba for work. Lehavim is an upper-middle class community of detached homes surrounded by palm trees and gardens. As of 2017, it received the highest ranking on the Israeli Socio-Economic Index (10 out of 10) according to the

Israel Central Bureau of Statistics The Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (, ''HaLishka HaMerkazit LiStatistika''; ), abbreviated CBS, is an Israeli government office established in 1949 to carry out research and publish statistical data on all aspects of Israeli life, including ...

along with only three other municipalities (

, Kfar Shmaryahu and Savyon). The town has a library, a country club, kindergartens, a school, two synagogues, and a commercial center. Lehavim achieved a municipal status in 1988.

Transportation

Lehavim is located near the intersection of Highway 40 (

–

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

) and Highway 31 ( Arad–

Rahat Rahat (, ) is an Arab Bedouin city in the Southern District (Israel), Southern District of Israel. In , it had a population of . As such, it is the largest Bedouin city in Israel, and the only one to have city council (Israel), city status. Ra ...

), known as the Lehavim Junction. The Lod–Beersheba railway line passes through this crossing. The Lehavim Railway Station, inaugurated in 2007 on the western side of Lehavim, and its proximity to Highway 6, have served as an economic catalyst.

Notable residents

* Ron Darmon (born 1992), Olympic triathlete

References

External links

Local council website
{{Authority control Local councils in Southern District (Israel) 1983 establishments in Israel Populated places established in 1983