Bnei Ayish

Bnei Ayish בְּנֵי עַיִ"שׁ بني عايش
Local council (from 1981)
Hebrew transcription(s)
• ISO 259	Bnei ʕayš
• Also spelled	Bene Ayish (official)
Bnei Ayish Location within Central Israel
Coordinates: 31°47′18.94″N 34°45′39.29″E
Country	Israel
District	Central
Subdistrict	Rehovot
Founded	7 October 1957
Government
• Head of Municipality	Aryeh Garela
Area
• Total	836 dunams (83.6 ha; 207 acres)
Population  (2024)
• Total	6,579
• Density	7,870/km2 (20,400/sq mi)
Name meaning	Sons of Akiva Yosef Schlezinger

Bnei Ayish (Hebrew: בְּנֵי עַיִ"שׁ) is a town and local council in the Central District of Israel. Located around ten kilometers from Ashdod and adjacent to Gedera, it had a population of 6,579 in 2024.

History

The town was founded in 1957. Before 1948, the area had served as a military base for British Army troops during the Mandate era. It was named after Rabbi Akiva Yosef Schlezinger, whose name is abbreviated to Ayish.

Bnei Ayish originally served as a transit camp for immigrants from Yemen in the early 1950s. Today its population is almost entirely made up of Jews of Yemenite descent and immigrants from the former Soviet Union .

Voting Patterns

In the 2022 election, 57 percent of voters in Bnei Ayish voted for the parties of the right-wing coalition led by Benjamin Netanyahu, while 40 percent voted for the parties of the center-left coalition led by Yair Lapid and 0.1 percent voted for the Arab parties.

External links

• Local council website
• Media related to Bnei Ayish at Wikimedia Commons