Dimona
Dimona | ||
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Basic data | ||
hebrew : | דימונה | |
arabic : | ديمونة | |
State : | Israel | |
District : | south | |
Coordinates : | 31 ° 4 ' N , 35 ° 2' E | |
Height : | 550 m | |
Area : | 29.877 km² | |
Residents : | 34,135 (as of 2018) | |
Population density : | 1,143 inhabitants per km² | |
Community code : | 2200 | |
Time zone : | UTC + 2 | |
Community type: | City administration | |
Mayor : | Benny Bitton | |
Website : | ||
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Dimona ( Hebrew דימונה[di'mɔna], Arabic ديمونة, DMG Dīmūna ) is an Israeli city with 34,135 inhabitants (2018) in the southern district of Israel . It is located in the northern part of the Negev desert . It was named after a biblical city of the same name in the tribal area of Judah (Joshua 15:22).
history
The city was founded on September 19, 1955 as a development city for the reception of new Jewish immigrants in a flat and vegetation-free area. Due to its altitude of about 600 m above sea level and the resulting comparatively low temperatures, it was intended primarily for workers in the potash works on the Dead Sea .
The textile industry was of great importance . After this branch of industry collapsed in the 1980s and 1990s, the city increasingly suffered from unemployment . The city is still trying to recover from this severe blow to this day.
On February 4, 2008, a shopping mall in Dimona was the target of a Palestinian suicide attack that killed three people and injured at least 11 others.
On July 9, 2014, three M75 missiles hit near Dimona. They were fired by the Essedin al-Qassam Brigades, the radical Islamic Palestinian organization Hamas . The target was the Negev nuclear research center .
traffic
The city is on the main road from Beersheba to Eilat . All buses from the country center to Eilat stop in Dimona.
The city is connected to the Israel Railways network. Until the end of 2005, however, only freight trains ran . The freight railway opens up three industrial areas and phosphate mines east and south-east of the city with two branch lines. A line runs east from Dimona to Rotem . The minerals of the Dead Sea are also loaded onto freight cars there. The second branch line runs southeast of Dimona to the mines and industrial areas of Oron and Zin . From Zin, the line to Eilat and the Dead Sea is to be continued in the future (timing is unclear).
Since December 17, 2005 there is again a passenger connection to Be'er Scheva. There are five connections a day in each direction, there are connections to the north and to the center of the country in Beersheba.
Buildings
The 400 meter high towers of the Dimona radar system are the tallest structures in Israel.
Town twinning
sons and daughters of the town
- Yossi Benayoun (* 1980), football player
Nuclear reactor at Dimona
Dimona is best known for his nuclear reactor in the Negev Nuclear Research Center , which was built 13 kilometers southeast with French help. Israel called the Nuclear Research Center a textile mill for years and kept its real purpose a secret. The research facility is also considered a development laboratory for Israeli nuclear weapons .
On August 29, 2018, the research facility was renamed the Shimon Peres Nuclear Research Center in the Negev .
Black Hebrews
Supporters of the Afro-American community of the African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem now live in a district of Dimona . The African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem (also called Black Hebrews) see themselves as descendants of the lost tribes of Israel . The religious group settled from the United States via Liberia to Israel in the late 1960s . Most of them live in cities in the Negev desert, mainly in Dimona, but also in Arad and Mitzpe Ramon . The members of the community (which also includes members of the band The Soul Messengers ) do not have Israeli citizenship but do have permanent residence rights . In 2003 there were between 1,500 and 2,000 black Hebrews in Israel.
According to their interpretation of the Torah and contrary to the rabbinical order , the men here practice polygamy .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ אוכלוסייה ביישובים 2018 (population of the settlements 2018). (XLSX; 0.13 MB) Israel Central Bureau of Statistics , August 25, 2019, accessed May 11, 2020 .
- ^ Mordecai Naor : Eretz Israel , Könemann, Cologne, 1998, ISBN 3-89508-594-4 , page 323.
- ↑ Hamas claims Dimona attack, says bombers came from Hebron . Haaretz . February 4, 2008. Archived from the original on May 17, 2008. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved May 17, 2008.
- ↑ Israel: Rockets hit the Dimona nuclear facility. In: Spiegel Online . Retrieved February 15, 2017 .
- ↑ Netanyahu: Israel must be strong. Israelnetz.de , August 30, 2018, accessed November 15, 2019 .