Rehovot Colony

The Rehovot settlement is located approximately 35 kilometers south of the settlement of "Tel Aviv." It was established in 1890 as an agricultural colony during the First Aliyah by Jewish settlers from Poland and Russia. According to the “Israeli” Central Bureau of Statistics, Rehovot had a population of approximately 106,200 settlers at the end of 2007. The Kiryat Moshe neighborhood and the industrial zone in Rehovot were established on the lands of the depopulated Palestinian village of Zarnuqa. The village’s name is likely derived from the Arabic word , meaning "small stream." The village’s Arab inhabitants were displaced and the village destroyed by Zionist forces in 1948. That same year, Jewish settlers established the agricultural colonies of “Zarnuqa” and “Ovad” on the village lands and to its northwest. In 1956, the combined population of these two settlements was 693. Zarnuqa was located in the Palestinian coastal plain at an elevation of 35 meters above sea level. It was surrounded by several villages, including Yibna, al-Maghar, al-Qubayba, and Aqir. The Wadi al-Qaramah ran 2.5 km west of the village, where it joined Wadi al-Sarar to form the Rubin River. Although the village lacked natural springs, it was rich in wells, particularly in the northern and northwestern areas. The village had a general trapezoidal layout, with its wider base toward the west and a longitudinal extension to the northeast. In its later years, Zarnuqa witnessed significant economic development accompanied by near-total urban expansion. Sources: Due to the scarcity of Arabic sources, we utilized “Hebrew” sources: the settlement’s Hebrew website / the “Israeli” Central Bureau of Statistics. Zarnuqa village information from .