The city of Givat Shmuel has witnessed an amazing development over the past two decades.
Its convenient location, between Ramat Gan, Petah Tikva and Bnei Brak, and near the Geha Highway and Bar-Ilan University led to an influx of young couples and many students. It is now considered a bastion of religious Zionism, including many immigrants from France, Belgium, North America and more.
Givat Shmuel was established in 1944, but became a formal city only in the 2007. The town was founded in what was called then by the Arab population, “Iben Abrak” named after the Tanaaite city of Bnei Brak, by a group of Zionists from Romania. They named the new settlement after Shmuel Pineles, a prominent Zionist activist in Romania.
For many years Givat Shmuel held a legal battle to include the University of Bar Ilan in its municipal territory and submit it the large municipal tax bill (about 15 million ILS a year), but the university has always preferred to belong to the municipality of Ramat Gan.
Over the decades Givat Shmuel established more and more neighborhoods, but the city’s big break began in the 90’s when the neighborhood began to develop in the so-called “new Givat Shmuel”
At the time of the establishment of the state there were 1,900 inhabitants in Givat Shmuel. Today there are about 25,000 and many more are expected to join them in the coming years through the many construction projects underway.
