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For other uses, see El'ad (disambiguation).

El'ad

El'ad

District Center
Government City (from 2008)
Hebrew אלעד
Population 31,300 (2007)
Area 2,756 dunams (2.756 km²; 1.064 sq mi)
Founded in 1998
Coordinates 34°57′4.47″E / 32.0523167°N 34.9512417°E / 32.0523167; 34.9512417Coordinates: 34°57′4.47″E / 32.0523167°N 34.9512417°E / 32.0523167; 34.9512417

El'ad, also spelled Elad (Hebrew: אלעד‎), is a city in the Center District of Israel. Located about 25 kilometres (16 mi) east of Tel Aviv on Route 444 between Rosh HaAyin and Shoham, it also lies just west of the Green Line. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) in 2007 the town had a total population of 31,300.[1] Its current population is estimated at over 32,000. The building of El'ad started in the late 90's, but due to the high demand and massive construction, it had already achieved local council status by 1998. It is the only town in Israel officially designated a religious municipality.

The town was built from scratch as a planned community according to urban planning paradigms not unlike Modi'in and nearby Shoham. While those towns were designed to suit a mixed population of non-religious and religious, El'ad was originally planned to suit a mixed population of Modern Orthodox/Religious Zionist Jews and Haredi Jews, but the majority are now Haredi. It was built as a part of the solution to the acute shortage of alternate and affordable housing for Haredi families who, traditionally, were concentrated primarily in both Jerusalem and Bnei Brak. Accordingly, El'ad was planned in a way that would suit the religious lifestyle with a larger selection of housing options with some projects offering larger than average apartments to accommodate religious families who tend to have more children than the average national population. Another unique characteristic was easy access and short walking distances to local education institutions to avoid the need for school transportation costs.

The Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi is Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Grossman and the Chief Sefardi Rabbi is Rabbi Mordechai Malka. There are at least 18 synagogues of different Jewish ethnic persuasions. A central charitable organization is Kupat Hatzedoko Matan Beseter.[2]

On 5 February 2008, El'ad's official status was changed to a city.[3]