Tel Aviv and Jaffa

A TASTE OF ISRAEL

Tel Aviv and Jaffa

Jaffa is one of the world's oldest ports, and Tel Aviv began in 1909 as a neighborhood of Jaffa built on sand dunes. The two were merged into one municipality in 1950 and now share a shoreline of beaches, markets, and Bauhaus buildings recognized by UNESCO. The sites here run from the old harbor north along the sea and into the city where

Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated in 1995.

Jaffa

A port as old as the Bible

Jaffa is one of the world's oldest working ports, mentioned in the Bible in the story of Jonah and as the place where cedar logs for Solomon's Temple arrived. Napoleon's army took the city in 1799. Its old quarter, with stone alleys and the Zodiac Alleys, now holds galleries and artists' studios, along with the Ottoman clock tower and the 19th-century St. Peter's Church. Jaffa once had a large Arab majority and was merged with Tel Aviv in 1950. Fishing boats still use the harbor, and the Ilana Goor Museum presents art in a historic building.

Glossary: Jaffa Port

Neve Tzedek

Where Tel Aviv began

Neve Tzedek, founded in 1887, was the first Jewish neighborhood built outside Jaffa, and it is where the story of Tel Aviv begins. Its low houses with shutters and courtyards decayed in the 20th century and were restored from the 1980s on. Today it is one of the city's most fashionable quarters, with boutiques, galleries, and cafes. The Suzanne Dellal Center for Dance and Theatre, in a former school, is home to the Batsheva Dance Company, and the writer S. Y. Agnon once lived here.

Glossary: Neve Tzedek

Rothschild Boulevard

The beating heart of Tel Aviv culture

Rothschild Boulevard is a tree-lined avenue through the center of Tel Aviv, laid out in the early days of the city, which was founded in 1909 on sand dunes north of Jaffa. At number 16, Independence Hall is where David Ben-Gurion read the Declaration of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948. The surrounding White City, with some 4,000 Bauhaus and International- style buildings of the 1930s, is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Cafes and kiosks line the central path, and the boulevard has become a symbol of the city's cultural life.

Glossary: Rothschild Boulevard

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A TASTE OF ISRAEL

T E L AV I V A N D J A F FA , CO N T I N U E D

Carmel Market

A cheap feast for the senses

The Carmel Market, known in Hebrew as Shuk HaCarmel, is Tel Aviv's largest open-air market, and it has run along a street in the city center since the 1920s. Stalls sell fruit, vegetables, spices, fish, cheese, bread, and flowers, and vendors call out prices in Hebrew, Arabic, and other languages. Street food stands serve falafel, shakshuka, and halva, and food tours are popular. On Fridays before the Sabbath the lanes fill with shoppers, and the nearby Nahalat Binyamin craft fair on Tuesdays and Fridays draws more.

Glossary: Carmel Market

Rabin Square

A plaza of democracy and remembrance

Rabin Square, in front of Tel Aviv's city hall, was called Kings of Israel Square until 1995. On November 4 of that year, at the end of a rally in support of the peace process, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was shot dead there by Yigal Amir, a Jewish extremist who opposed the Oslo Accords. A memorial marks the spot. The square remains the city's main gathering place for demonstrations, concerts, and public ceremonies, and many Israelis return each year on the anniversary of the assassination.

Glossary: Rabin (Kings of Israel) Square

Sarona Market and Hostage Square

A restored colony and a place of waiting

Sarona was founded in 1871 as a colony by German Templers, a Protestant movement, and its red-roofed houses, restored in the 2000s, now form a district of restaurants, shops, and a large food market. Beside it stands the Kirya, the military headquarters complex. After Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023 and took about 250 people hostage into Gaza, a nearby plaza became known as Hostage Square, a gathering place for families and supporters during the long effort to bring them home.

Glossary: Sarona Market and Hostage Square

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