Rehovot, Israel - A Rochester Sister City
Rehovot, Israel - Sister City Since 1972
| Fast Facts |
| Currency: Shekel |
| Sister City Since: 1972 |
| Language: Hebrew, Arabic |
| Population: 112,700 |
| Visa Requirements: None |
ברוך הבא
Polish Jews founded Rehovot, one of Israel's oldest communities, in 1890, about 20 kilometers southeast of modern Tel Aviv; Yemenite Jews joined them in 1906. In the 1990s its population swelled again, by immigration from the Soviet Union, and by Operation Solomon, an airlift of Ethiopian Jews from Africa. Today this inland city of 140,000 is city of culture, science, and agriculture. The symbols on the City's flag are the orange, representing its citrus groves; the microscope, for research; and the book, representing education and scholarship.
The first president of Israel, Chaim Weizman, and his wife are buried on the grounds of the Weizman Institute of Science, which he founded in 1934 for the study and advancement of science and technology. Today, the internationally-known institute is home to some 2500 scientists and students. Rehovot's growing Kaplan Medical Center treats more than 120,000 people from the surrounding areas, welcoming some 6,000 babies annually. The Hebrew University has based its Faculty of Agriculture in Rehovot. Other noted Israelis have called Rehovot home, including Abba Eban, former foreign minister and representative to the United Nations, and S.Y. Agnon, Nobel Laureate for Literature.
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