Ra'anana,
Israel
Since July 2001
Committee Chair: Arnold Heller
About
Ra'anana
Mayor
Chaim Broyde
75,421
Hebrew
Ra'anana is known locally as 'Little America' because of the many settlers who came from New York. By the 1947 War for Independence, it was a village of 3,000 residents. In the 1980's, Ra'anana was declared a city and occupies six square miles.
Ra'anana's industrial zone is home to the Renamin Mall and many hi-tech companies that include Emblaze, Hewlett-Packard, NICE Systems, SAP, On Target Communications and Texas Instruments. Microsoft's head office in Israel and Amdocs are also located in Ra’anana.
Ra'anana is renowned for its excellent school system—with twelve elementary schools, ten middle schools, and eight high schools. The world class K-12 Music Conservatory nurtures young prodigies and Aviv High School has one of the world's best robotics education programs. Ra'anana is also home to the Open University and Ra'anana College. Ra'anana is also home to Beit Issie Shapiro, an institute dedicated to providing innovative therapies and education to people with special needs that is a model for the world.
Ra'anana Park is the largest and most beautiful in the Sharon District. It offers walking and bike trails, sports fields, a zoo and petting center, and a lake which is surrounded by a botanical and other special gardens. The Founder's Museum presents the story of Ra'anana's original settlers in dioramas that capture the city's frontier spirit.
With a large America expatriate population, the Ra'anana Express competes in the fast developing Israeli Baseball League. Additionally, Ra’anana’s main soccer club is the Hapoel Ra'anana and Briel Hasharon is an accomplished basketball team which plays in the Metro West High School.
About the Partnership
The Atlanta-Ra'anana Committee formed out of student exchange between North Atlanta High School and Ostrovsky High School Nov. 22 - Dec. 1, 1998. At that time, Dr. Arnold Heller applied to the Atlanta Sister Cities Commission for Ra'anana to become the seventeenth sister city partnership.
The first twinning mission took place in May 2001 led by Councilwoman Cleta Winslow who was accompanied by Assistant Marketing Director Sheila Jack and Dr. Arnold Heller, Atlanta-Ra'anana Sister Cities Committee Chair. On July 27, 2001, then Mayor Bill Campbell and Mayor Zeev Bielski established the sister city relation during a ceremony at the 2001 Sister Cities International Convention in Atlanta.
The main focus of the Atlanta-Ra'anana Sister City Committee -has been to nurture friendship and economic development between the two cities and facilitate social, cultural, educational and athletic exchanges. The Committee also plays a supportive role in attending numerous events sponsored by the Atlanta Jewish Community including the Israel Independence Day celebration, Atlanta Jewish Film Festival and Kosher Barbecue Event.
In the area of economic development, the Committee works closely with Conexx and Director Guy Tessler; Israel Consul General Ambassador Judith Shorer; the Atlanta Mayor's Office of International Affairs, and the Georgia Department of Trade to strengthen economic ties between the cities. There are currently six Ra'anana-based companies - Amdocs is the largest - that have made an investment impact in Atlanta that is estimated at more than $200,000,000.
The 2014 re-election of Zeev Bielski re-invigorated the partnership that led to the past two years of triumph and resurgence.
Recent Activities
2020
In January, the Ra’anana Sister City Commission hosted a Holocaust Remembrance Event, with Rabbi Bent Melchio delivering the keynote speech.
In addition, the Annual Daffodil Dash 5K run was hosted virtually by the Daffodil Project in March. The Daffodil Project aims to spread Holocaust awareness.
Ra'anana Sister City chair Arnold Heller, Cleta Winslow, and Assistant Marketing Director, Sheila Jacks, honoring Ra'anana's war dead at a memorial.
Recent Activities
Mayor Kasim Reed led a six-day cyber security mission to Israel in March 2015. The mission aimed to introduce Chief Information and Security Officers of Atlanta-based companies to new innovative cyber security solutions and promote Atlanta’s ecosystem to attract Israeli investment. Participating Atlanta-based companies included Delta Air Lines, The Coca-Cola Company, NCR, Carter’s Baby Clothing, and many more. The 33 person delegation visited Ra’anana-based hi-tech giants Amdocs, and AT&T’s Innovation Foundry and was also hosted by Retalix which recently acquired by Atlanta-based NCR.
The Daffodil Project is a global effort to plant 1.5 million daffodils worldwide in memory of the 1.5 million children who perished in the Holocaust. ARSCC member Rena Kahn serves on the Am Yisrael Chai Atlanta Committee, the group that created the project and is pictured planting daffodil bulbs in 2016 with Mayor Bielski.
Past Activities
2015
Mayor Kasim Reed led a six-day cyber security mission to Israel in March 2015. The mission aimed to introduce Chief Information and Security Officers of Atlanta-based companies to new innovative cyber security solutions and promote Atlanta’s ecosystem to attract Israeli investment. Participating Atlanta-based companies included Delta Air Lines, The Coca-Cola Company, NCR, Carter’s Baby Clothing, and many more. The 33 person delegation visited Ra’anana-based hi-tech giants Amdocs, and AT&T’s Innovation Foundry and was also hosted by Retalix which recently acquired by Atlanta-based NCR.
2016
The Daffodil Project is a global effort to plant 1.5 million daffodils worldwide in memory of the 1.5 million children who perished in the Holocaust. ARSCC member Rena Kahn serves on the Am Yisrael Chai Atlanta Committee, the group that created the project and is pictured planting daffodil bulbs in 2016 with Mayor Bielski. Michael Hirsh Negri,
Vice President of Administrative Faculty of Bartov Elementary School and his sixth grade students planted the 80 bulbs in the Ra'anana Botanical Garden. Am Yisrael Chai Atlanta is planning to repeat the Ra'anana daffodil planting in 2017. Over 300,000 daffodils to date have been planted; Atlanta was the first city and has planted more than 30,000 bulbs.
2017
Rena Kahn and AM Yisrael Chai commemorated International Holocaust Remembrance Day by presenting Magda Mozes Herzberger, a Holocaust survivor, to speak on Fortitude and Endurance: Surviving with Faith, Hope, Love and Dreams" in January 2017.
2019
Vice Chair Myrna Cohen's visited Ra'anana in November 2019 to meet with Mayor Chaim Broyde and plant more daffodils to honor the children who perished in the Holocaust.
