Illegal Immigration

Just as the US is, Israel is a nation of immigrants. We spent a few days in Netanya on the coast north of Tel Aviv. We came upon a nondescript water tower with an interesting story.

"Mitzpe Ha'Yam" as the tower is named for a kibbutz (communal village) that existed on this spot in the 1930s. It served as a cover for illegal immigrants trying to enter Israel from the sea since this was a fishing village with a small port.

The photo on the side of the water tower shows some of the residents of the kibbutz which was later absorbed into the city of Netanya as it grew into a city of 200,000 people

This early view of Netanya shows some of the architecture from the 1930s and 40s.

Netanya today is made up of a population that includes those who came in those early illegal entries, their children and grandchildren and people from Europe, the US, North Africa, Ethiopia, and is the center of the Iranian Jewish community. Half of the population was born in another country.