Ra'anana

Ra'anana, is a city in the heart of the southern Sharon Plain of the Central District of Israel with a population of 68,300, as of 2009. Ra'anana is bordered by Kfar Sava on the east and Herzliya on the southwest. While the majority of its residents are native Israelis, a large part of the population are immigrants from English, French and Spanish speaking countries.
Ra'anana's high tech industrial park is home to many leading global companies and local start up companies. It has been named the city with the highest quality of life in Israel and the safest city in the Middle East.


Industry & commerce


Ra'anana has an industrial zone in the north of the city, which is home to Rananim shopping mall and many high-tech companies, including Emblaze, Hewlett-Packard, NICE Systems, OnTarget Communications, SAP and Texas Instruments. In addition, Microsoft's head office in Israel and Amdocs are located in an office complex at the eastern edge of the city, close to Ra'anana Junction, where Highway 4 meets Ahuza Street, Ra'anana's main boulevard. Ahuza Street runs through the city from east to west and is lined with shops, restaurants and a cultural center.
Due to Raanana's high concentration and proximity to high-tech companies in Israel, it frequently hosts international high tech conferences.


Education


Ra'anana has 12 elementary schools, 10 middle schools and 8 high-schools. It also has special educational frameworks for gifted students and students with disabilities. Ra'anana invests more than a third of the municipal budget for the construction of schools and classrooms and the expansion of social, community and cultural activities in the school framework. According to statistics from the Ministry of Education, Ra'anana is ranked in first place in the Sharon region and second nationally in this regard. At the schools, a zero-dropout policy has been adopted that enables every student in Ra'anana to complete 12 years of education. Ra'anana has developed various educational models which provide assistance and extra tutoring to students with difficulties, so that all students may maximize their personal potential and find a suitable place in the municipal educational frameworks.
Educational programs for gifted students start in the third grade. A program for the encouragement of girls to study technological subjects has been developed as well as a technology-focused leadership development and information management program, the first of its kind in Israel. The program, created in conjunction with "Ness Technologies", uses advanced technology as a catalyst for developing skills.


Hospitals and medical facilities


Ra'anana is home to the Loewenstein Hospital Rehabilitation Center. Loewenstein was established in 1958 and is the only rehabilitation hospital operated by Clalit Health Services, Israel's largest health care provider. Its current multi-floor building is situated in a large gardened area and accommodates 240 rehabilitative beds for short and long term hospital care. As a national rehabilitative center, patients are admitted from all parts of the country, all health funds, from the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Health, and from general hospitals and clinics, both from Israel and overseas.


Sports


The main soccer club of the city is Hapoel Ra'anana. In basketball, the city is represented by Bnei Hasharon who play at the MetroWest high school. With a large population of American expatriates, the Ra'anana Express are an inaugural team in the Israel Baseball League.
The Ra'anana Roosters are the local rugby team, and the area is a centre of rugby union in Israel, with the Israel Rugby Union being based there.


Mayors
Baruch Ostrovsky (1931–1959)
Michael Pasweig
Yitzhak Skolnik
Benyamin Wolfovich
Zeev Bielski (1989–2005)
Nahum Hofree (2005–present)