Old page wikitext, before the edit (old_wikitext) | '{{About|the city in Israel|}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2015}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Beersheba
| native_name = {{Hlist
| {{Lang|he|{{Script/Hebrew|בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע}}|rtl=yes}}
| {{Lang|ar|{{lang|ar|بئر السبع}}|rtl=yes}}
}}
| settlement_type = [[List of cities in Israel|City]]
| translit_lang1 = Hebrew
| translit_lang1_type3 = Also spelled
| translit_lang1_info3 = {{br separated entries|Be'er Sheva'{{citation needed|date=June 2019}} (official)| Be'er Sheva, Beer Sheva (unofficial) }}
| image_skyline = {{center|{{Photomontage
|photo1a = Beersheba City Hall 6.jpg
|photo1b = BSNU.jpg
|photo2a = בית המושל באר שבע.jpg
|photo2b = PikiWiki Israel 36687 Beersheba birds eye view.JPG
|photo3e = Kikar Hamitnadvim, Beersheba.jpg
|photo4e = Be'er Sheva at night.jpg
|size = 280
|color = transparent
|border = 0
}}}}
| image_caption = '''From Upper left:''' Beersheba City Hall, [[Ben-Gurion University of the Negev]], [[Negev Museum of Art]], view of downtown, Volunteers square, Be'er Sheva at night
| image_blank_emblem = [[File:Coat of arms of Beersheba.svg|60px]]
| pushpin_map_alt =
| pushpin_map = Israel north negev#Israel
| pushpin_mapsize = 250
| pushpin_label_position =
| pushpin_map_caption =
| coordinates = {{coord|31|15|32|N|34|47|59|E|region:IL|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
| subdivision_name = Israel
| subdivision_type1 =
| subdivision_name1 =
| subdivision_type2 = [[Districts of Israel|District]]
| subdivision_name2 = [[Southern District (Israel)|Southern]]
| established_title = Founded
| established_date = 4000 BC <small>([[Tel Be'er Sheva]])</small><br />1900 (The new city)
| leader_title = Mayor
| leader_name = [[Ruvik Danilovich]]
| unit_pref = dunam
| area_total_dunam = {{formatnum:117500|R}}
| population_footnotes = {{Israel populations|reference}}
| population_total = {{Israel populations|Be'er Sheva}}
| population_as_of = {{Israel populations|Year}}
| population_density_km2 = auto
| elevation_m = 260
| blank_name_sec1 = Name meaning
| blank_info_sec1 = Well of the Oath<sup>([[#Etymology|see also]])</sup>
| website = {{url|http://www.beer-sheva.muni.il/|beer-sheva.muni.il}}
}}
'''Beersheba''' ({{IPAc-en|b|ɪər|ˈ|ʃ|iː|b|ə}}; {{lang-he|בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע|'''Be'er Sheva'''}}, {{IPA-he|ˈbe(ʔ)eʁ ˈʃeva(ʕ)|IPA|He-Beer Sheva.ogg}}; {{lang-ar|بئر السبع|Biʾr as-Sabʿ|Well of the Oath/the Seven}}) is the largest city in the [[Negev]] desert of southern [[Israel]]. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the center of the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in Israel, the [[List of cities in Israel|eighth-most populous Israeli city]] with a population of {{Israel populations|Be'er Sheva}},{{Israel populations|reference}} and the second-largest city (after [[Jerusalem]]) with a total area of 117,500 [[dunam]]s.
The [[biblical archaeology|Biblical]] site of Beersheba is [[Tel Be'er Sheva]], lying some 4 km distant from the modern city, which was established at the start of the 20th century by the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Turks]].<ref name=Berman>{{cite journal | author = Mildred Berman | title = The Evolution of Beersheba as an Urban Center | journal = Annals of the Association of American Geographers | volume = 55 | number = 2 | year = 1965 | pages = 308–326 | doi=10.1111/j.1467-8306.1965.tb00520.x}}</ref> The city was captured by the British-led [[Australian Light Horse]] in the [[Battle of Beersheba (1917)|Battle of Beersheba]] during [[World War I]]. In 1947, ''Bir Seb'a'' ({{lang-ar|بئر السبع}}), as it was known, was envisioned as part of the Arab state in the [[United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine]]. Following the [[Israeli Declaration of Independence|declaration of Israel's independence]], the [[Egyptian army]] amassed its forces in Beersheba as a strategic and logistical base. In the [[Battle of Beersheba (1948)|Battle of Beersheba]] waged in October 1948, it was conquered by the [[Israel Defense Forces]].<ref>''Guide to Israel'', [[Zev Vilnay]], Hamakor Press, Jerusalem, 1972, pp.309–14</ref>
Beersheba has grown considerably since Israel's independence. A large portion of the population is made up of the descendants of [[Sephardi Jews]] and [[Mizrahi Jews]] who [[Jewish exodus from Arab lands|immigrated from Arab countries]] after 1948, as well as smaller communities of [[Bene Israel]] and [[Cochin Jews]] from India. Second and third waves of immigration have taken place since 1990, bringing Russian-speaking [[Ashkenazi Jews|Ashkenazi Jewish]] immigrants from the former [[Soviet Union]], as well as [[Beta Israel]] immigrants from [[Ethiopia]]. The Soviet immigrants have made the game of [[chess]] a major sport in Beersheba, and it is now Israel's national chess center, with more [[Grandmaster (chess)|chess grandmasters]] per capita than any other city in the world, making it the chess capital of the world in some regards.<ref>[http://articles.latimes.com/2005/jan/30/news/adfg-ichess30 "Beersheba Masters Kings, Knights, Pawns"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170706042638/http://articles.latimes.com/2005/jan/30/news/adfg-ichess30 |date=July 6, 2017 }}, ''Los Angeles Times'', January 30, 2005</ref>
Beersheba is home to [[Ben-Gurion University of the Negev]]. This city also serves as a center for [[Science and technology in Israel|Israel's high-tech and developing technology industry]].<ref name=globes2>{{cite web|url=http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-beersheva-makes-mark-as-israels-hidden-hi-tech-hub-1001085859|title=Beersheva: Israel's emerging high-tech hub - Globes English|date=December 4, 2015|access-date=December 4, 2015|archive-date=December 8, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208010313/http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-beersheva-makes-mark-as-israels-hidden-hi-tech-hub-1001085859|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Etymology==
There are several [[etymology|etymologies]] of the name ''Beersheba''. The oath of [[Abraham]] and [[Abimelech]] ('well of the oath') is the one stated in {{bibleverse||Genesis|21:31|HE}}. Others include the seven wells dug by [[Isaac]] ('seven wells') though only three or four have been identified; the oath of [[Isaac]] and Abimelech ('well of the oath' in {{bibleverse||Genesis|26:33|HE}}); the seven lambs that sealed Abraham and Abimelech's oath ('well of the seven').
''Be'er'' is the [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] word for 'well'; ''sheva'' could mean 'seven' or 'oath' (from the Hebrew word {{transl|he|shvu'a}}).
The Arabic toponym can also be translated as 'seven wells' or, as more commonly believed, 'lion's well'.
During Ottoman administration the city was referred as {{lang|ota|بلدية بءرالسبع}} (''Belediye Birüsseb'').
==Hebrew Bible==
Beersheba{{dubious|The biblical site is at Tell Sheva/Tel Be'er Sheva, east of the modern city. Why discuss it here?|date=August 2020}} is mainly dealt with in the [[Hebrew Bible]] in connection with the [[Patriarchs (Bible)|Patriarchs]] [[Abraham]] and [[Isaac]], who both dig a well and close peace treaties with King [[Abimelech]] of [[Gerar]] at the site. Hence it receives its name twice, first after Abraham's dealings with Abimelech ({{Bibleref2|Genesis 21:22-34}}), and again from [[Isaac]] who closes his own covenant with Abimelech of Gerar and whose servants also dig a well there ({{Bibleref2|Genesis 26:23-33}}). The place is thus connected to two of the three [[Wife–sister narratives in the Book of Genesis]].
According to the Hebrew Bible, Beersheba was founded when [[Abraham]] and [[Abimelech]] settled their differences over a well of water and made a covenant (see {{Bibleref2|Genesis 21:22-34}}). Abimelech's men had taken the well from Abraham after he had previously dug it so Abraham brought sheep and cattle to Abimelech to get the well back. He set aside seven lambs to swear that it was he that had dug the well and no one else. Abimelech conceded that the well belonged to Abraham and, in the Bible, Beersheba means "Well of Seven" or "Well of the Oath".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Freedman |first1=David Noel |last2=Myers |first2=Allen C. |title=Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible |publisher=[[William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company|Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.]] |date=2000 }}</ref>
Beersheba is further mentioned in following Bible passages: Isaac built an altar in Beersheba (Genesis 26:23–33). [[Jacob]] had his dream about a stairway to heaven after leaving Beersheba. (Genesis 28:10–15 and 46:1–7). Beersheba was the territory of the [[tribe of Simeon]] and [[Tribe of Judah|Judah]] ([[Book of Joshua|Joshua]] 15:28 and 19:2). The sons of the prophet [[Samuel (Bible)|Samuel]] were judges in Beersheba ([[Books of Samuel|I Samuel]] 8:2). [[Saul]], Israel's first king, built a fort there for his campaign against the [[Amalek]]ites (I Samuel 14:48 and 15:2–9). The prophet [[Elijah]] took refuge in Beersheba when [[Jezebel (Bible)|Jezebel]] ordered him killed ([[Books of Kings|I Kings]] 19:3). The prophet [[Amos (prophet)|Amos]] mentions the city in regard to idolatry ([[Book of Amos|Amos]] 5:5 and 8:14).<ref name="autogenerated1"/> Following the [[Babylonian Empire|Babylonian]] conquest and subsequent [[Babylonian captivity|enslavement]] of many [[Israelites]], the town was abandoned. After the Israelite slaves returned from [[Babylon]], they resettled the town. According to the Hebrew Bible, Beersheba was the southernmost city of the territories settled by Israelites, hence the expression "[[from Dan to Beersheba]]" to describe the whole kingdom.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishmag.com/61mag/beersheva/beersheva.htm |title=Beer Sheva |publisher=Jewishmag.com |access-date=2009-05-05| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090430054858/http://www.jewishmag.com/61mag/beersheva/beersheva.htm| archive-date= April 30, 2009 | url-status= live}}</ref>
[[Zibiah]], the [[:wikt:consort|consort]] of King [[Ahaziah of Judah]] and the mother of King [[Jehoash of Judah]],<ref name="kings">[[2 Kings]] 12:1</ref> was from Beersheba.
==History==
The city has been destroyed and rebuilt many times over the centuries. Unimportant for centuries, Be’er Sheva regained importance under Byzantine rule (in the 4th–7th century), when it was a key point on the Limes Palestinae, a defense line built against the desert tribes; however, it fell to the Arabs in the 7th century and to the Turks in the 16th. It long remained a watering place and small trade centre for the nomadic Bedouin tribes of the Negev, despite Turkish efforts at town planning and development around 1900. Its capture in 1917 by the British opened the way for their conquest of Palestine and Syria. After being taken by Israeli troops in October 1948, Beersheba was rapidly settled by new immigrants and has since developed as the administrative, cultural, and industrial centre of the Negev. It is one of the largest cities in Israel outside of metropolitan Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Haifa.
===Chalcolithic===
Human settlement in the area dates from the [[Chalcolithic|Copper Age]]. The inhabitants lived in caves, crafting metal tools and raising cattle.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vie/Beersheba.html |title=Beersheba |publisher=Jewishvirtuallibrary.org |date=October 21, 1948 |access-date=2013-08-08 |archive-date=June 29, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150629171855/https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vie/Beersheba.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Findings unearthed at [[Tel Sheva]], an [[archaeological site]] east of modern-day Beersheba, suggest the region has been inhabited since the [[4th millennium BC]].<ref>Z. Herzog. Beer-sheba II: The Early [[Iron Age]] Settlements. Institute of Archaeology, [[Tel Aviv University]] and Ramot Publishing Co. Tel Aviv 1984</ref>
===Iron Age Israelite town===
[[File:Tel Be'er Sheva Overview 2007041.JPG|thumb|Tel Sheva archaeological site]]
{{Main|Tel Be'er Sheva}}
[[Tel Be'er Sheva]], an archaeological site containing the ruins of an ancient town believed to have been the Biblical Beersheba, lies a few kilometers east of the modern city. The town dates to the early [[History of ancient Israel and Judah|Israelite period]], around the 10th century BCE. The site was probably chosen due to the abundance of water, as evidenced by the numerous wells in the area. According to the [[Hebrew Bible]], the wells were dug by [[Abraham]] and [[Isaac]] when they arrived there. The streets were laid out in a grid, with separate areas for administrative, commercial, military, and residential use. It is believed to have been the first planned settlement in the region, and is also noteworthy for its elaborate water system; in particular, a huge [[cistern]] carved out of the rock beneath the town.
===Persian period===
During the Persian rule 539 BC–c. 332 BC Beersheba{{dubious|Where, at Tell Sheva/Tel Be'er Sheva, or where the modern city stands?|date=August 2020}} was at the south of [[Yehud Medinata]] autonomous province of the Persian [[Achaemenid Empire]]. During that era the city was rebuilt<ref name="ynetenc">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Be'er Sheva|encyclopedia=[[ynet encyclopedia]]}}</ref> and a citadel had been built.<ref name="openau">{{cite book|title=מכורש עד אלכסנדר: תולדות ישראל בשלטון פרס|work=Open University of Israel|pages=196–198|first=Arial|last=Rapport}}</ref> Archeological finds from between 359 and 338 BC have been made and include pottery and [[Ostracon]].<ref name="openau"/>
===Hellenistic period===
During the [[Hasmonean]] rule, the city{{dubious|Again: hete or at Tell Sheva/Tel Be'er Sheva?|date=August 2020}} did not take importance as it was not mentioned when conquered from [[Edom]] or described in the [[Maccabean Revolt|Hasmonean wars]]{{dubious|In the usual meaning of the terms, the Maccabees and their revolt precede the creation of the autonomous/independent Hasmonean kingdom and its wars. So what was it?|date=December 2019}}.<ref name="ynetenc"/>
===Roman and Byzantine periods===
During [[Roman Empire|Roman]] rule the city{{dubious|Again: where, at Tell Sheva/Tel Be'er Sheva, or here?|date=August 2020}} was in the [[Coele-Syria]] region. During the Roman era and later [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] periods, the town served as a front-line defense against [[Nabatean]] attacks. Around 64-63 BC [[Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus]] made Be'er Sheva the southern part of the [[Judea (Roman province)|Judea]] province, in the following years the city was on the [[Limes (Roman Empire)|limes]] belt, which in this region is attributed to the time of [[Vespasian]],<ref name="limes">"The Origin of the Limes Palaestinae and the Major Phases in its Development", in ''Studien zu den Militärgrenzen Roms'', 1967</ref> The city become center of an [[eparchy]] in around 268.<ref name="limes"/>
Beersheba was described in the [[Madaba Map]] and [[Eusebius of Caesarea]] as a large village with a Roman garrison.<ref>
"The Scripture Gazetteer: A Geographical, Historical, and Statistical Account of the Empires, Kingdoms, Countries, Provinces, Cities, Towns, Villages, Mountains, Valleys, Seas, Lakes, Rivers, &c Mentioned in the Old and New Testaments: Their Ancient History, Natural Productions, and Present State: with an Essay on the Importance and Advantage of the Study of Sacred Geography", volume 1, 1883, p. 308</ref>
===Mamluk period===
In 1483, during the late [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluk]] era, the pilgrim [[Felix Fabri]] noted Beersheba as a city. Fabri also noted that Beersheba marked the southern-most border of "the Holy Land".<ref>Fabri, 1893, pp. [https://archive.org/details/libraryofpalesti02paleuoft/page/489/mode/1up 489], [https://archive.org/details/libraryofpalesti02paleuoft/page/493/mode/1up 493]</ref>
===Ottoman period===
[[File:השוק בבאר-שבע-JNF022332.jpeg|thumb|Beersheba in 1901]]
[[File:EarlyBeersheba2.jpg|thumb|View of Beersheba from the south in 1902.]]
[[File:BersheebaWWI.jpg|thumb|Beersheba, 1917]]
The present-day city was built to serve as an administrative center by the Ottoman administration for the benefit of the Bedouin at the outset of the 20th century and was given the name of ''Bir al-Sabi'' (well of the seven). Until [[World War I]], it was an overwhelmingly Muslim township, with some 1,000 residents.<ref name="Reiter" /> Ben-David and Kressel have argued that the Bedouin traditional market was the cornerstone for the founding of Beersheba as capital of the Negev during this period,<ref name="Kressel_Ben-David_1996">{{cite journal <!--|title=The Bedouin Market: the axis around which Beer Sheva developed in the British Mandatory Period--> |first1=Gideon M. |last1=Kressel |first2=Joseph |last2=Ben-David |title=Nomadic Peoples |year=1996 |url=http://cnp.nonuniv.ox.ac.uk/pdf/NP_journal_back_issues/the_bedouin_market_GM_Kressel_and_J_BenDavid.pdf |format=PDF |publisher=The Commission on Nomadic Peoples of the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Services (IUAES) |journal=Nomadic Peoples |number=39 |pages=3–28}}</ref>{{rp|3}} and Negev Bedouin anthropologist and educationalist, Aref Abu-Rabia, who worked for the [[Ministry of Education (Israel)|Israeli Ministry of Education and Culture]], described it as "the first Bedouin city."<ref name="Abu-Rabia">{{cite book |url= {{Google books |id=kEJKW1IaynwC |page=7 |plainurl=yes}} |first= Aref |last= Abu-Rabia |title= A Bedouin Century: Education and Development among the Negev Tribes in the 20th century |publisher=[[Berghahn Books]] |year= 2001 |access-date=2013-08-08}}</ref>{{rp|ix}}
In June 1899, the Ottoman government ordered the creation of the Beersheba sub-district (''kaza'') of the district (''mutasarrıflık'') of [[Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem|Jerusalem]], with Beersheba to be developed as its capital.<ref name=Avci>{{cite journal |author= Yasemin Avcı |title= The application of Tanzimat in the desert: The Bedouins and the creation of a new town in Southern Palestine (1860–1914) |journal= Middle Eastern Studies |year= 2009 |volume= 45 |issue= 6 |pages= 969–983 |doi= 10.1080/00263200903268728|s2cid= 144397381 }}</ref> Implementation was entrusted to a special bureau of the Ministry of the Interior.<ref name=Avci/> There were multiple reasons for the decision. The British incorporation of [[Sinai Peninsula|Sinai]] into [[Egypt]] led to a need for the Ottomans to consolidate their hold on southern Palestine.<ref name=Avci/> There was also a desire to encourage the Bedouin to become sedentary, with a predicted increase of tranquility and tax revenue.<ref name=Avci/> The first governor (''[[kaymakam]]''), Isma'il Kamal Bey, lived in a tent lent by the local [[sheikh]] until the government house (''Saraya'') was built.<ref name=AbuRabia>{{cite book |author= 'Aref Abu-Rabi'a |title= A Bedouin Century |publisher= Berghahn Books |year= 2001 |pages= 8–10}}</ref> Kamal was replaced by Muhammed Carullah Efendi in 1901, who in turn was replaced by Hamdi Bey in 1903.<ref name=Avci/> The governor in 1908 was promoted to 'adjoint' (''mutassarrıf muavin'') to the governor of the Jerusalem district, which placed him above the other sub-district governors.<ref name=Avci/>
A visitor to Beersheba in May 1900 found only a ruin, a two-storey stone [[Khan (inn)|khan]], and several tents.<ref name=Robinson1901>{{cite journal |author= George L. Robinson |title= The Wells of Beersheba |journal= The Biblical World |volume= 17 |number= 4 |year= 1901 |pages= 247–255 |doi= 10.1086/472788|doi-access= free }}</ref> By the start of 1901 there was a barracks with a small garrison and other buildings.<ref>Palestine Exploration Fund, Quarterly Report for April 1901, p100.</ref> The [[Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungaria]]n-Czech orientalist<ref>[[Ernest Gellner]], ''Anthropology and Politics: Revolutions in the Sacred Grove,'' [[Basil Blackwell]], 1995 pp.212-228.</ref> [[Alois Musil]] noted in August 1902:
: Bir es-Seba grows from day to day; This year, instead of the tents, we found stately houses along a beautiful road from the Sarayah to the bed of the wadi. In the government building a garden has been laid out, and all sorts of trees have been planted which are sure to prosper, for the few shrubs planted two years ago by the steam mill at the south-east end of the road have grown considerably. The lively construction activity is also causing a lively exploitation of the ruins.<ref name=Musil>{{cite book |author= Alois Musil |title= Arabia Petraea |volume= 2 |page= 66 |place= Wien |year= 1908 |publisher= A. Hölder |url= https://archive.org/stream/arabiapetraea00musigoog#page/n81/mode/2up |quote= Bir es-Seba wächst von Tag zu Tag; heuer baut man bereits anstatt der Zelte stattliche Häuser, die eine schöne Straße vom Seräja zum Talbette bilden. Beim Regierungsgebäude hat man einen Garten angelegt und allerlei Bäume gesetzt, welche gewiß gut fortkommen werden, denn die wenigen vor zwei Jahren bei der Dampfmühle am Südostende der Straße gepflanzten Sträucher sind inzwischen stark gewachsen. Die rege Bautätigkeit verursacht auch hier eine rege Ausbeutung des Ruinenfeldes.<!--If your German is better than mine, feel free to adjust the translation.-->}}</ref>
By 1907 there was a large village and military post, with a residence for the ''kaymakam'' and a large mosque.<ref name=Robinson1908>{{cite journal |author= George L. Robinson |title= Beersheba Revisited |journal= The Biblical World |volume= 31 |number= 5 |year= 1908 |pages= 322+327–335 |doi= 10.1086/474045|doi-access= free }}</ref> The population increased from 300 to 800 between 1902 and 1911, and by 1914 there were 1,000 people living in 200 houses.<ref name=Avci/>
A plan for the town in the form of a [[grid plan|grid]] was developed by a Swiss and a German architect and two others.<ref>Abu Rabi'a (loc. cit.) names the other two as Palestinian Arabs [[Nashashibi clan|Sa'id Effendi al-Nashashiby]] and his assistant, Ragheb Effendi al-Nashashiby.{{dubious|Don't know what other tag to use. Is he identical with Raghib al-Nashashibi, for whom there is a WP article?|date=December 2019}} However, Biger (Ottoman Town Planning in Late 19th
and early 20th Century Palestine, 3rd International Geography Symposium, 2013, 23–32) says that they were Turks educated in Germany.</ref><ref>{{cite book |title= Settlement of the Negev, 1900–1960 |chapter= Basis of Beersheba City Planning |author= Gerdos, Yehuda |editor= Na'or, Mordechai |publisher= Yad Yitzhak Ben-Zvi |location=[[Jerusalem]], [[Israel]] |year= 1985 |pages= 167–177 |language= he}}</ref> The grid pattern can be seen today in Beersheba's Old City. Most of the residents at the time were [[Arab]]s from [[Hebron]] and the Gaza area, although [[Jews]] also began settling in the city. Many Bedouin abandoned their nomadic lives and built homes in Beersheba.<ref name="ariel">{{cite encyclopedia |author= Vilnai, Ze'ev |title= Be'er Sheva |encyclopedia= Ariel Encyclopedia |volume= 1|pages= 473–515 |publisher= Sifriyat HaSadeh |location= Tel Aviv, Israel |year= 1969 |language= he}}</ref>
===First World War and British Mandate===
[[File:AN AERIAL VIEW OF BE'ER SHEVA. צילום אויר של באר שבע..jpg|thumb|Beersheba 1938]]
[[File:Turkishrailstation.jpg|thumb|[[Beersheba Turkish Railway Station]]]]
During [[World War I]], the Ottomans built a [[Railway to Beersheba|military railroad]] from the [[Hejaz Railway|Hejaz line]] to Beersheba, inaugurating the station on October 30, 1915.<ref name="cotterell-ch3">{{cite book|title=The Railways of Palestine and Israel|author=Cotterell, Paul|publisher=Tourret Publishing|location=Abingdon, UK|isbn=978-0-905878-04-1|year=1986|chapter=Chapter 3|pages=14–31}}</ref> The celebration was attended by the Ottoman army commander [[Ahmed Djemal|Jamal Pasha]] and other senior government officials. The train line was captured by [[Allies of World War I|Allied forces]] in 1917, towards the end of the war. Today, it forms part of the [[Israel Railways|Israeli railway network]].{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}
Beersheba played an important role in the [[Sinai and Palestine Campaign]] in World War I. The [[Battle of Beersheba (1917)|Battle of Beersheba]] was part of a wider British offensive in aimed at breaking the Turkish defensive line from [[Gaza City|Gaza]] to Beersheba. On October 31, 1917, three months after taking [[Rafah]], [[General Allenby]]'s troops breached the line of Turkish defense between Gaza and Beersheba.<ref>''An Empire in the Holy Land: Historical Geography of the British Administration in Palestine, 1917–1929,'' Gideon Biger, St. Martin's Press, New York, Magnes Press, Jerusalem, 1994, pp. 23–24</ref> Approximately five-hundred soldiers of the [[Australian]] [[4th Light Horse Regiment (Australia)|4th Light Horse Regiment]] and the [[12th Light Horse Regiment (Australia)|12th Light Horse Regiment]] of the 4th [[Australian Light Horse|Light Horse Brigade]], led by [[William Grant (general)|Brigadier General William Grant]], with only horses and bayonets, charged the Turkish trenches, overran them and captured the wells in what has become known as the [[Battle of Beersheba (1917)|Battle of Beersheba]], called the "last successful cavalry charge in British military history."<ref>{{cite web|title=Senate Debates: 60th Anniversary of the State of Israel|url=http://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?id=2008-03-18.279.12|date=March 18, 2008|access-date=September 7, 2015|archive-date=October 18, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018050334/http://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?id=2008-03-18.279.12|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Medlicott|first=Jeanne|title=Beersheba Lighthorse Anzac diorama unveiled in Narooma|url=http://www.naroomanewsonline.com.au/story/3025991/beersheba-lighthorse-diorama-unveiled-in-narooma/|work=Narooma News|date=April 21, 2015|access-date=September 7, 2015|archive-date=August 16, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150816230851/http://www.naroomanewsonline.com.au/story/3025991/beersheba-lighthorse-diorama-unveiled-in-narooma/|url-status=live}}</ref> On the edge of Beersheba's Old City is a [[Commonwealth War Graves Commission]] Cemetery containing the graves of Australian, [[New Zealand]] and British soldiers. The town also contains [[Australian Soldier Park|a memorial park dedicated to them]].
During the [[Mandatory Palestine|Palestine Mandate]], Beersheba was a major administrative center. The British constructed a railway between [[Rafah]] and Beersheba in October 1917; it opened to the public in May 1918, serving the Negev and settlements south of [[Mount Hebron]].<ref>Gideon Biger (1994), ''An Empire in the Holy Land,'' p. 119</ref> In 1928, at the beginning of the tension between the Jews and the Arabs over control of Palestine, and wide-scale rioting which left 133 Jews dead and 339 wounded, many Jews abandoned Beersheba, although some returned occasionally. After an Arab attack on a Jewish bus in 1936, which escalated into the [[1936–39 Arab revolt in Palestine]], the remaining Jews left.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Kark|first1=Ruth|last2=Frantzman|first2=Seth J.|title=The Negev: Land, Settlement, the Bedouin and Ottoman and British Policy 1871–1948|work=British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies|date=April 2012}}</ref>
At the time of the [[1922 census of Palestine]], Beersheba had a population of 2,012 Muslims, 235 Christians, 98 Jews and 11 [[Druze]] (total 2,356).<ref name="Census1922">{{cite book | editor = J. B. Barron | title = Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922 | publisher = Government of Palestine | year = 1923 | chapter = Table V | page = 11}}</ref> At the time of the [[1931 census of Palestine|1931 census]], Beersheba had 545 occupied houses and a population of 2,791 [[Muslim]]s, 152 Christians, 11 Jews and 5 [[Baháʼí Faith|Baháʼí]] (total 2,959).<ref name="Census1931">{{cite book | editor = E. Mills | title = Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas | publisher = Government of Palestine | location = Jerusalem | year = 1932 | page = 7}} ([https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas online] (pdf, 28 MB)</ref> The 1945 village survey conducted by the Palestine Mandate government found 5,360 Muslims, 200 Christians and 10 others (total 5,570).<ref>[[United Nations Conciliation Commission]] for Palestine, [https://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/5FBCED3943293BBD0525656900654AA6 A/AC.25/Com.Tech/7/Add.1] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140720232249/http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/5FBCED3943293BBD0525656900654AA6 |date=July 20, 2014 }} (April 1949)</ref>
[[File:Beersheba 1945.jpg|thumb|Beersheba 1945 1:250,000]]
[[File:Beersheba 1947.jpg|thumb|Beersheba 1947 1:20,000]]
<gallery mode="packed" heights="120">
File:Beersheba from the air.jpg|Beersheba 1948
File:Beersheba i.jpg|Beersheba police station. 1948. Original building Ottoman with British Mandate addition.
File:Beersheba ii.jpg|Beersheba mosque. 1948
File:Beersheva mosque.jpg|A mosque in Be'ersheva photographed during [[Operation Yoav]], 1948
File:Beersheba iv.jpg|Harel Brigade assembling in Beersheba prior to Operation Horev, 25 December 1948
File:Beersheba v.jpg|Nahal Beersheba in flood, 1948
</gallery>
===State of Israel===
====1947-49 war====
{{See also|Battle of Beersheba (1948)}}
[[File:IsraelPhil.jpg|thumb|Israel Philharmonic Orchestra performing in Beersheba, Israel, 1948]]
[[File:Beersheba, Monument to Negev Brigade, Bunker 02.jpg|thumb|Monument to the Negev Brigade, [[Danny Karavan]]]]
[[File:שכונה ב.PNG|thumb|Beersheba in the 1960s]]
In 1947, the [[United Nations Special Committee on Palestine]] (UNSCOP) proposed that Beersheba be included within the Jewish state in their partition plan for Palestine.<ref name=UNSCOP>United Nations Special Committee on Palestine, Report to the General Assembly, September 3, 1947, Volume II, [https://unispal.un.org/unispal.nsf/c17b3a9d4bfb04c985257b28006e4ea6/fb6dd3f0e9535815852572dd006cc607?OpenDocument A/364, Add. 1] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910081252/http://unispal.un.org/unispal.nsf/c17b3a9d4bfb04c985257b28006e4ea6/fb6dd3f0e9535815852572dd006cc607?OpenDocument |date=September 10, 2015 }}. UNGA Resolution 181 (Nov 27, 1947).[https://unispal.un.org/maps/m0103_1b.gif] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170811055524/https://unispal.un.org/maps/m0103_1b.gif |date=August 11, 2017 }}. See boundaries [[:File:UN Palestine Partition Versions 1947.jpg|here]].</ref> However, when the UN's Ad Hoc Committee revised the plan, they moved Beersheva to the Arab state on account of it being primarily Arab.<ref name=UNSCOP/><ref>[[Anita Shapira]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=3HkJCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA239 ''Yigal Allon, Native Son: A Biography,''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124073814/https://books.google.com/books?id=3HkJCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA239 |date=November 24, 2020 }} [[University of Pennsylvania Press]], 2015 {{ISBN|978-0-812-20343-1}} p.239</ref> Egyptian forces had been stationed at Beersheva since May 1948.
It was [[Yigal Allon]] who proposed the conquest of Beersheba,<ref>Shapira, ''Yigal Allon'' p.245</ref> which was approved by Prime Minister [[David Ben-Gurion]]. According to Israeli historian [[Benny Morris]], he ordered the "conquest of Beersheba, occupation of outposts around it, [and] demolition of most of the town."<ref name=Morris467>Morris, Benny. ''The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited'', Cambridge University Press, p. 467.</ref> The objective was to break the Egyptian blockade of Israeli convoys to the Negev. The Egyptian army did not expect an offensive and fled en masse.<ref name="googleil">{{cite book|url={{Google books |id=iogKjVDKRW4C |page=245 |plainurl=yes }} |title=Yigal Allon: Native Son |first=Anita |last=Shapira |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |year=2007 |page=245 |access-date=2013-08-08}}</ref> Israel bombed the town on October 16,<ref name="Abu-Rabia 2" >Alef Abu-Rabia, 'Beersheva,' in Michael Dumper, Bruce E. Stanley (eds.), [https://books.google.com/books?id=3SapTk5iGDkC&pg=PA80 ''Cities of the Middle East and North Africa: A Historical Encyclopedia,''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201016210037/https://books.google.com/books?id=3SapTk5iGDkC&pg=PA80 |date=October 16, 2020 }} [[ABC-CLIO]], 2007 {{ISBN|978-1-576-07919-5}} p.80.</ref> At 4:00 am on October 21, the 8th Brigade's 89th [[battalion]] and the [[Negev Brigade]]'s 7th and 9th battalions moved in, some troops advancing from [[Mishmar HaNegev]] junction, {{convert|20|km|mi}} north of Beersheba, others from the Turkish train station and [[Hatzerim]]. By 9:45, Beersheba was in Israeli hands. Around 120 Egyptian soldiers were taken prisoner. All of the Arab inhabitants who had resisted, were expelled <ref name="Reiter" >Yitzhak Reiter, [https://books.google.com/books?id=nzUlDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA209 ''Contested Holy Places in Israel–Palestine: Sharing and Conflict Resolution,''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201102063649/https://books.google.com/books?id=nzUlDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA209 |date=November 2, 2020 }} [[Taylor & Francis]] 2017 {{ISBN|978-1-351-99885-7}} p.209.</ref> with the remaining Arab civilians, 200 men and 150 women and children, taken to the police fort and, on October 25, the women, children, disabled and elderly were driven by truck to the Gaza border. The Egyptian soldiers were interned in [[POW]] camps. Some men lived in the local mosque and were put to work cleaning but when it was discovered that they were supplying information to the Egyptian army they were also deported.<ref name=Morris467/> The town was subject to large-scale looting by the [[Haganah]], and by December, in one calculation, the total number of Arabs driven out from Beersheva and surrounding areas reached 30,000 with many ending up in [[Jordan]] as refugees.<ref name="Abu-Rabia 2" /><ref>[[Simha Flapan]], [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2536718 ''The Palestinian Exodus of 1948,''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225225059/https://www.jstor.org/stable/2536718 |date=December 25, 2018 }}
[[Journal of Palestine Studies]] Vol. 16, No. 4 (Summer, 1987), pp. 3-26.</ref> Following [[Operation Yoav]], a 10-kilometer radius exclusion zone around Beersheba was enforced into which no Bedouin were allowed.<ref>[[Benny Morris|Morris, Benny]] (1987) ''The birth of the Palestinian refugee problem, 1947–1949''. [[Cambridge University Press]]. {{ISBN|0-521-33028-9}}. p.245.</ref> In response, the [[United Nations Security Council]] passed two resolutions on the 4th and 16 November demanding that Israel withdraw from the area.<ref>Zeev Tzahor, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/260802 'The 1949 Air Clash between the Israeli Air Force and the RAF,'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225225037/https://www.jstor.org/stable/260802 |date=December 25, 2018 }} [[Journal of Contemporary History]] Volume 28, No. 1 (January 1993), pp. 75-101,p.76</ref>
====First four decades====
Following the conclusion of the war, the [[1949 Armistice Agreements]] formally granted Beersheba to Israel. The town was then transformed into an Israeli city with only an exiguous Arab minority.<ref name="Reiter" /> Beersheba was deemed strategically important due to its location with a reliable water supply and at a major crossroads, northwest to Hebron and [[Jerusalem]], east to the [[Dead Sea]] and [[al Karak]], south to [[Aqaba]], west to Gaza and southwest to [[Auja al-Hafir|Al-Auja]] and the border with [[Egypt]].<ref name="googleil"/>
After a few months, the town's war-damaged houses were repaired. As a post-independence wave of Jewish immigration to Israel began, Beersheba experienced a population boom as thousands of immigrants moved in. The city rapidly expanded beyond its core, which became known as the "Old City," as new neighborhoods were built around it, complete with various housing projects such as apartment buildings and houses with auxiliary farms, as well as shopping centers and schools. The Old City was turned into a city center, with shops, restaurants, and government and utility offices. An industrial area and one of the largest cinemas in Israel were also built in the city. By 1956, Beersheba was a booming city of 22,000.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=883&dat=19551007&id=J_JOAAAAIBAJ&pg=3222,5341447|title=The Canadian Jewish Chronicle - Google News Archive Search|access-date=April 1, 2020|archive-date=August 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200827122232/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=883&dat=19551007&id=J_JOAAAAIBAJ&pg=3222,5341447|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19560310&id=9MVaAAAAIBAJ&pg=5992,2911747|title=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Google News Archive Search|access-date=April 1, 2020|archive-date=October 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201009054526/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19560310&id=9MVaAAAAIBAJ&pg=5992,2911747|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1959, during the [[Wadi Salib riots]], riots spread quickly to other parts of the country, including Beersheba.<ref>Jeremy Allouche, ''The Oriental Communities in Israel, 1948-2003'', [http://doczz.fr/doc/96608/the-oriental-communities-in-israel--1948-2003] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171224214338/http://doczz.fr/doc/96608/the-oriental-communities-in-israel--1948-2003 |date=December 24, 2017 }}, p.35]</ref>
[[Soroka Medical Center|Soroka Hospital]] opened its doors in 1960. By 1968, the population had grown to 80,000.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2206&dat=19680227&id=55AyAAAAIBAJ&pg=823,2776659|title=How Sea of Immigrants Tamed the Negev Wilderness}}</ref> The University of the Negev, which would later become Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, was established in 1969. The then [[List of Presidents of Egypt|Egyptian president]] [[Anwar Sadat]] visited Beersheba in 1979. In 1983, its population was more than 110,000. During the [[1990s post-Soviet aliyah]], the city's population greatly increased as many immigrants from the former Soviet Union settled there.
====Urban development in the 21st century====
[[File:מבט על העיר באר שבע, אמצע שנות השמונים.JPG|thumb|left|250px|Beersheba in the mid-1980s]]
As part of its [[Blueprint Negev]] project, the [[Jewish National Fund]] funded major redevelopment projects in Beersheba. One project was the Beersheba River Walk, a {{convert|900|acre|km2|adj=on|abbr=off}} riverfront district with green spaces, hiking trails, a 3,000-seat sports hall, a {{convert|15|acre|adj=on|abbr=off}} boating lake filled with recycled waste water, promenades, restaurants, cafés, galleries, boat rentals, a 12,000-seat amphitheater, playgrounds, and a bridge along the route of the city's [[Mekorot]] water pipes.<ref name=park/> At the official entrance to the river park is the Beit Eshel Park, which consists of a park built around a courtyard with historic remains from the settlement of [[Beit Eshel]].<ref name=blueprint>[http://www.jpost.com/LocalIsrael/AroundIsrael/Article.aspx?id=175455 "Beit Eshel Park, Beersheba"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103222825/http://www.jpost.com/LocalIsrael/AroundIsrael/Article.aspx?id=175455 |date=November 3, 2012 }}, Blueprint Negev</ref>
[[File:Beer Sheva Aerial View.jpg|thumb|250px|Panorama of Beersheba]]
[[File:PipesBridge.jpg|thumb|Pipes Bridge, 2012]]
[[File:Beer Sheba Israel IMG 6789.JPG|thumb|Modern Beersheba]]
Four new shopping malls were also built. Among them is Kanyon Beersheba, a {{convert|115,000|m2|sqft|adj=mid|abbr=off}} ecologically planned mall with pools for collecting rainwater and lighting generated by solar panels on the roof. It will be situated next to an 8,000-meter park with bicycle paths.<ref name=blueprint/><ref>[http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/34834/jewish-national-fund-plants-an-emissary-in-bay-area/ "Jewish National Fund plants an emissary in the Bay area"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811022547/http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/34834/jewish-national-fund-plants-an-emissary-in-bay-area/ |date=August 11, 2011 }}, ''Jweekly.com''</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jnf.org/menu-2/our-work/blueprint-negev/beersheba-river-park.html|title=404 Error|website=www.jnf.org|access-date=May 18, 2019|archive-date=May 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190518115916/https://www.jnf.org/menu-2/our-work/blueprint-negev/beersheba-river-park.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In addition, the first ever farmer's market in Israel was established as an enclosed, circular complex with 400 spaces for vendors surrounded by parks and greenery.<ref name=blueprint/>
A new central bus station was built in the city. The station has a glass-enclosed complex also containing shops and cafés.<ref name=blueprint/>
Some $10.5 million was also invested in renovating Beersheba's Old City, preserving historical buildings and upgrading infrastructure.<ref>[http://www.timesofisrael.com/spending-time-at-the-well/?fb_comment_id=fbc_10150571598805779_20906899_10150576840115779 "Upwelling of Renewal"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018050334/http://www.timesofisrael.com/spending-time-at-the-well/?fb_comment_id=fbc_10150571598805779_20906899_10150576840115779 |date=October 18, 2015 }}, ''Times of Israel''</ref> The Turkish Quarter was also redeveloped with newly cobbled streets, widened sidewalks, and the restoration of Turkish homes into areas for dining and shopping.<ref name=park>{{cite web |url=http://www.jnf.org/work-we-do/blueprint-negev/beer-sheva-river-park.html |title=Jewish National Fund: Be'er Sheva River Park |publisher=Jnf.org |access-date=2013-03-12 |archive-date=June 27, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120627015225/http://www.jnf.org/work-we-do/blueprint-negev/beer-sheva-river-park.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
In 2011, city hall announced plans to turn Beersheba into the "water city" of Israel.<ref>{{cite news |author=רועי צ'יקי ארד 8 July 2011 00:54 עודכן ב: 23:15 |url=http://www.haaretz.co.il/news/education/1.1179790 |title=שיגעון המים של בירת הנגב – חינוך וחברה – הארץ |newspaper=הארץ |publisher=Haaretz.co.il |access-date=2013-03-12 |archive-date=September 13, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110913075745/http://www.haaretz.co.il/news/education/1.1179790 |url-status=live }}</ref> One of the projects, "Beersheva beach," is a 7-[[Dunam#Syria, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey|dunam]] fountain opposite city hall.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4196840,00.html |title=mynet באר שבע – תגידו, צריך חוף ים בבאר שבע? |publisher=Mynet.co.il |date=June 20, 1995 |access-date=2013-03-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170126144258/http://www.mynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4196840,00.html |archive-date=January 26, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nrg.co.il/online/54/ART2/354/966.html?hp=54&cat=873&loc=63 |title=מקומי – באר שבע nrg – ...דרעי עצבני: רב העיר ב"ש יוצא לקרב |publisher=Nrg.co.il |access-date=2013-03-12 |archive-date=April 30, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150430220554/http://www.nrg.co.il/online/54/ART2/354/966.html?hp=54&cat=873&loc=63 |url-status=live }}</ref> Other projects included fountains near the [[Soroka Medical Center]] and in front of the Shamoon College of Engineering.
In the 1990s, as skyscrapers began to appear in Israel, the construction of high-rise buildings began in Beersheba.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/2881/skyscrapers-dotting-tel-aviv-landscape/ |title=Skyscrapers dotting Tel Aviv landscape | j. the Jewish news weekly of Northern California |publisher=Jweekly.com |date=March 29, 1996 |access-date=2013-03-12 |archive-date=October 12, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012062544/http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/2881/skyscrapers-dotting-tel-aviv-landscape |url-status=live }}</ref> Today, downtown Beersheba has been described as a "clean, compact, and somewhat sterile-looking collection of high-rise office and residential towers."<ref>[http://globaltravelerusa.com/mag/beer-sheva-desert-bloom "Beersheba desert bloom"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105032445/http://globaltravelerusa.com/mag/beer-sheva-desert-bloom |date=November 5, 2012 }}, Global Travel</ref> The city's tallest building is Rambam Square 2, a 32-story apartment building.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=rambamsquare2-beersheva-israel |title=Rambam Square 2, Beer Sheva |location=IL / |publisher=Emporis.com |date=July 21, 2003 |access-date=2013-08-08 |archive-date=February 11, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070211012605/http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=rambamsquare2-beersheva-israel |url-status=live }}</ref> Many additional high-rise buildings are planned or are under construction, including skyscrapers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.emporis.com/city/beersheva-israel/all-buildings |title=All buildings | Buildings |publisher=Emporis |date=July 21, 2003 |access-date=2013-03-12 |archive-date=May 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210529125147/https://www.emporis.com/city/100283/beer-sheva-israel |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.emporis.com/building/rambamsquare2-beersheva-israel |title=Rambam Square 2 | Buildings |location=IL / |publisher=Emporis |date=July 21, 2003 |access-date=2013-03-12 |archive-date=October 20, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020072342/http://www.emporis.com/building/rambamsquare2-beersheva-israel |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.emporis.com/city/beersheva-israel/skyscrapers |title=skyscrapers | Buildings |publisher=Emporis |access-date=2013-03-12 |archive-date=May 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210529125148/https://www.emporis.com/city/100283/beer-sheva-israel |url-status=live }}</ref> There are further plans to build luxury residential towers in the city.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4227281,00.html |title=ynet מגדלים בלב המדבר: תנופת הבנייה מגיעה לב"ש – כלכלה |newspaper=Ynet |date=May 12, 2012 |publisher=Ynet.co.il |access-date=2013-03-12 |archive-date=May 23, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130523205850/http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4227281,00.html |url-status=live |last1=קוריאל |first1=אילנה }}</ref>
In December 2012, a plan to build 16,000 new housing units in the Ramot Gimel neighborhood was scrapped in favor of creating a new [[urban forest]], which spans {{convert|1360|acres|0|abbr=on}} and serves as the area's "green lung", as part of the plans to develop a "green band" around the city. The forest includes designated picnic areas, biking trails, and walking trails. According to Mayor [[Ruvik Danilovich]], Beersheba still has an abundance of open, underdeveloped spaces that can be used for urban development.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4316990,00.html |title=Beersheba opts for trees over urban sprawl – Israel Environment, Ynetnews |newspaper=Ynetnews |publisher=Ynetnews.com |date=June 20, 1995 |access-date=2013-03-12 |archive-date=January 2, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130102160432/http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4316990,00.html |url-status=live |last1=Curiel |first1=Ilana }}</ref>
In 2017, a new urban building plan was approved for the city, designed to raise the city's population to 340,000 by 2030. Under the plan, 13,000 more housing units will be built, along with industrial and business developments occupying a total of four million square meters. A second public hospital is also planned.<ref name=globes/> Planning for a [[light rail]] system also began.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.beer-sheva.muni.il/Eng/Lists/List2/DispForm.aspx?ID=165|title=Planning of Be'er-Sheva's New Light Rail Begins|website=City of Beer Sheva|access-date=September 27, 2020|archive-date=October 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181009063659/http://www.beer-sheva.muni.il/Eng//Lists/List2/DispForm.aspx?ID=165|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2019, the construction of a new public hospital, which will be named after [[Shimon Peres]], was approved. The hospital will be a {{convert|345|acre|0|adj=on}} complex that will feature 1,900 beds, commerce, hotel, alternative medicine, and paramedical services, and research centers, with the possibility of apartment units for medical faculty employees, students, and senior housing. It will be linked to the rest of the city by a light rail system.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/new-hospital-approved-for-beersheba-to-enhance-healthcare-to-periphery-609765|title=New hospital approved for Beersheba to enhance healthcare to periphery|website=The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com|access-date=September 27, 2020|archive-date=May 29, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210529125145/https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/new-hospital-approved-for-beersheba-to-enhance-healthcare-to-periphery-609765|url-status=live}}</ref>
====Security incidents in the city====
On October 19, 1998, sixty four people were wounded in a grenade attack.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?did=69085|title=64 פצועים, מהם שניים קשה ושלושה בינוני, בפיגוע בתחנה המרכזית בבאר שבע|date=October 20, 1998|newspaper=Globes|access-date=May 18, 2019|archive-date=May 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502001222/https://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?did=69085|url-status=live|last1=גולן|first1=מאת גדי}}</ref>
On August 31, 2004, sixteen people were killed in [[Beersheba bus bombings|two suicide bombings on commuter buses]] in Beersheba for which [[Hamas]] claimed responsibility. On August 28, 2005, another suicide bomber attacked the central bus station, seriously injuring two security guards and 45 bystanders.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/29/international/middleeast/29mideast.html "Palestinian Bomber Kills Only Himself Near Israeli Bus Station"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518231233/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/29/international/middleeast/29mideast.html |date=May 18, 2013 }}, ''New York Times''</ref> During [[Gaza War (2008–09)|Operation Cast Lead]], which began on December 27, 2008, and lasted until the ceasefire on January 18, 2009, Hamas fired 2,378 rockets (such as [[BM-21 Grad|Grad]] rockets) and mortars, from Gaza into southern Israel, including Beersheba. The [[List of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel|rocket attacks have continued]], but have been only partially effective since the introduction of the [[Iron Dome]] rocket defense system.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART2/300/858.html |title=חדשות – צבא וביטחון nrg – ...כיפת ברזל יירטה שתי רקטות |publisher=Nrg.co.il |date=October 31, 2011 |access-date=2013-03-12 |archive-date=February 3, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120203061623/http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART2/300/858.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4109451,00.html |title=ynet גראד דוחה מחאה? "גם ספטמבר לא יזיז אותנו" – חדשות |newspaper=Ynet |date=August 16, 2011 |publisher=Ynet.co.il |access-date=2013-03-12 |archive-date=May 23, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130523101009/http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4109451,00.html |url-status=live |last1=קוריאל |first1=אילנה }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART2/271/094.html |title=חדשות – צבא וביטחון nrg – ...רקטה התפוצצה בבאר שבע; חיל |publisher=Nrg.co.il |access-date=2013-03-12 |archive-date=April 17, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150417044638/http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART2/271/094.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART2/272/910.html |title=חדשות – צבא וביטחון nrg – ...הרוג ושישה פצועים בפגיעות |publisher=Nrg.co.il |access-date=2013-03-12 |archive-date=April 17, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150417044848/http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART2/272/910.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
In 2010 an Arab attacked and injured two people with an axe.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hageula.com/news/israel/6890.html |title=פיגוע בבאר-שבע: ערבי תקף בגרזן ופצע שניים | שלימות הארץ | חדשות |publisher=Hageula.com |date=June 27, 2011 |access-date= 2013-03-12 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130516073356/http://www.hageula.com/news/israel/6890.html |archive-date= May 16, 2013 |df= mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.walla.co.il/?w=/10/1835762 |title=באר שבע: כוחות גדולים במצוד אחר "התוקף בפטיש" – וואלה! חדשות |date=June 28, 2011 |publisher=News.walla.co.il |access-date=2013-03-12 |archive-date=May 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210529125146/https://news.walla.co.il/item/1835762 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.walla.co.il/?w=/1/1835677 |title=אלמוני תקף שני גברים בפטיש ליד עיריית באר שבע – וואלה! חדשות |date=June 28, 2011 |publisher=News.walla.co.il |access-date=2013-03-12 |archive-date=August 31, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110831205235/http://news.walla.co.il/?w=%2F1%2F1835677 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2012, a Palestinian from [[Jenin]] was stopped before a stabbing attack in a "safe house."<ref>{{cite web |url= http://news.nana10.co.il/Article/?ArticleID=856797 |title= נענע10 – סוכל ניסיון פיגוע בבאר שבע: פלסטיני שתכנן לבצע פיגוע דקירה נעצר בדירת מסתור בעיר – חדשות |publisher= News.nana10.co.il |date= June 17, 2009 |access-date= 2013-03-12 |archive-date= February 4, 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120204000033/http://news.nana10.co.il/Article/?ArticleID=856797 |url-status= live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.mako.co.il/news-military/security/Article-676211d39b7a431017.htm |title= חדשות 2 – סוכל פיגוע דקירה בבאר שבע: מחבל נעצר בדירת מסתור |date= January 4, 2012 |publisher= Mako.co.il |access-date= 2013-03-12 |archive-date= April 18, 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120418064017/http://www.mako.co.il/news-military/security/Article-676211d39b7a431017.htm |url-status= live }}</ref> On October 18, 2015, a lone gunman [[Beersheva bus station shooting|shot and killed]] a soldier guarding the Beersheva bus station before being gunned down by police.<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.timesofisrael.com/terrorists-open-fire-at-beersheba-bus-station-injuring-six/ |title= Terrorist opens fire at Beersheba bus station, kills one, wounds 11 |first1= Adiv |last1= Sterman |first2= Judah Ari |last2= Gross |website= www.timesofisrael.com |access-date= May 18, 2019 |archive-date= May 27, 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190527084009/http://www.timesofisrael.com/terrorists-open-fire-at-beersheba-bus-station-injuring-six/ |url-status= live }}</ref> In September 2016, the [[Shin Bet]] thwarted a [[Palestinian Islamic Jihad]] terror attack at a wedding hall in Beersheba.<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.bicom.org.uk/news/islamic-jihad-terror-attacks-beer-sheva-thwarted/ |title= Islamic Jihad terror attacks in Beer Sheva thwarted |website= BICOM |access-date= January 1, 2018 |archive-date= January 1, 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180101194209/http://www.bicom.org.uk/news/islamic-jihad-terror-attacks-beer-sheva-thwarted/ |url-status= live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url= https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/diplomacy-defense/128137-161020-israeli-security-services-uncover-islamic-jihad-cell-planning-mass-terror-attack |title= i24NEWS |website= www.i24news.tv |access-date= May 18, 2019 |archive-date= May 18, 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190518115912/https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/diplomacy-defense/128137-161020-israeli-security-services-uncover-islamic-jihad-cell-planning-mass-terror-attack |url-status= live }}</ref>
==Emblem of Beersheba==
[[File:Beer_Sheva_COA_stamp_1965.png|thumb|80px|Beersheva emblem on a 1965 stamp]]
Since 1950, Beersheba has changed its municipal emblem several times.
The 1950 emblem, designed by Abraham Khalili, featured a [[tamarix]] tree, a factory and water flowing from a pipeline.<ref name="city_sign">{{Cite web|url=https://www.beer-sheva.muni.il/City/OnTheCity/Pages/CitySymbol.aspx|title=סמל העיר|website=עיריית באר שבע|access-date=May 18, 2019|archive-date=April 26, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190426164134/https://www.beer-sheva.muni.il/City/OnTheCity/Pages/CitySymbol.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1972 the emblem was modernized with the symbolic representation of the [[Twelve Tribes]] and a tower.<ref name="city_sign"/> Words from the Bible are inscribed: Abraham "planted a tamarix tree in Beersheba." (Genesis 21:33) Since 2012, it has incorporated the number seven as part of the city rebranding.
==Geography==
[[File:NahalashanS.jpg|thumb|Dry riverbed in Nahal Ashan park]]
Beersheba is located on the northern edge of the Negev desert {{convert|115|km|mi}} south-east of [[Tel Aviv]] and {{convert|120|km|mi}} south-west of Jerusalem. The city is located on the main route from the center and north of the country to [[Eilat]] in the far south. The Beersheba Valley has been populated for thousands of years, as it has available water, which flows from the Hebron hills in the winter and is stored underground in vast quantities.<ref name="geog">{{cite web|url=http://www.geocities.com/thetropics/harbor/7883/bs-climt.htm |title=The climate of Beer Sheva |access-date=2008-02-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080325061505/http://www.geocities.com/thetropics/harbor/7883/bs-climt.htm |archive-date=March 25, 2008 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> The main river in Beersheba is ''Nahal Beersheva'', a ''[[wadi]]'' that floods in the winter. The Kovshim and Katef streams are other important wadis that pass through the city. Beersheba is surrounded by a number of satellite towns, including [[Omer, Israel|Omer]], [[Lehavim]], and [[Meitar]], and the Bedouin localities of [[Rahat]], [[Tel as-Sabi]], and [[Lakiya]].
Just north west of the city (near Ramot neighborhood ) is a region called Goral hills (heb:גבעות גורל lit: hills of fate), the area has hills with up to {{convert|500|m|ft|abbr=off}} [[above sea level]] and low as {{convert|300|m|ft|abbr=off}} above sea level.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.themarker.com/misc/1.562670|title=כל חייל שניווט פעם בגבעות גורל ישמח לשמוע שאת הג'בלאות החשופות החליפו וילות עם גינות פורחות|first=אמיר|last=טייג|date=March 29, 2010|journal=TheMarker|access-date=June 20, 2016|archive-date=August 6, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160806180205/http://www.themarker.com/misc/1.562670|url-status=live}}</ref> Due to heavy construction the flora unique to the area is endangered.
North east of the city (north to the Neve Menahem neighborhood) there are [[Loess]] plains and dry river bands.
===Climate===
Beersheba has a hot [[desert climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification]] ''BWh'') with [[Mediterranean climate|Mediterranean]] influences. The city has both characteristics of Mediterranean and desert climates. Summers are hot and dry, and winters are mild. Rainfall is highly concentrated in the winter season, even more so than other cities with a similar climate such as [[Almería]] in southern Spain. In summer, the temperatures are high in daytime and nighttime with an average high of {{convert|34.7|°C|°F|sigfig=2}} and an average low of {{convert|21.4|°C|°F|sigfig=2}}. Winters have an average high of {{convert|17.7|°C|°F|sigfig=2}} and average low of {{convert|7.1|°C|°F|sigfig=2}}. Snow is very rare; a snowfall on February 20, 2015, was the first such occurrence in the city since 2000.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4628929,00.html|title=Be'er Sheva rejoices after rare snowfall|newspaper=Ynetnews|date=February 20, 2015|access-date=June 8, 2015|archive-date=July 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180702181240/https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4628929,00.html|url-status=live|last1=Raved|first1=Ahiya}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author1=Christine Hauser |title=Snow falls in Israel's Negev Desert |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/snow-falls-in-israel-s-negev-desert-1.239093 |access-date=24 June 2021 |work=[[The Irish Times]] |date=January 29, 2000}}</ref>
Precipitation in summer is rare, the most rainfalls come in winter between September to May, but the annual amount is low, averaging {{convert|195.1|mm|in|sp=us|1}} per year. Sandstorms, haze and fog are common, especially in winter, as a result of the high humidity.
{{Weather box
|location = Beersheba
|metric first = yes
|single line = yes
|collapsed = yes
|Jan record high C = 31.5
|Feb record high C = 35.2
|Mar record high C = 38.4
|Apr record high C = 43.8
|May record high C = 44.8
|Jun record high C = 46.0
|Jul record high C = 42.0
|Aug record high C = 43.8
|Sep record high C = 44.0
|Oct record high C = 41.7
|Nov record high C = 38.3
|Dec record high C = 32.5
|year record high C =
|Jan avg record high C= 24.6
|Feb avg record high C= 27.3
|Mar avg record high C= 32.0
|Apr avg record high C= 37.5
|May avg record high C= 38.7
|Jun avg record high C= 39.6
|Jul avg record high C= 39.3
|Aug avg record high C= 38.3
|Sep avg record high C= 38.7
|Oct avg record high C= 36.8
|Nov avg record high C= 31.9
|Dec avg record high C= 26.9
|Jan high C = 17.7
|Feb high C = 18.7
|Mar high C = 22.0
|Apr high C = 26.5
|May high C = 30.5
|Jun high C = 33.1
|Jul high C = 34.7
|Aug high C = 34.7
|Sep high C = 32.9
|Oct high C = 29.7
|Nov high C = 25.0
|Dec high C = 20.0
|year high C =
| Jan mean C = 12.4
| Feb mean C = 13.2
| Mar mean C = 15.9
| Apr mean C = 19.7
| May mean C = 23.2
| Jun mean C = 26.1
| Jul mean C = 28.0
| Aug mean C = 28.1
| Sep mean C = 26.2
| Oct mean C = 23.2
| Nov mean C = 18.6
| Dec mean C = 14.4
| year mean C =
|Jan low C = 7.1
|Feb low C = 7.7
|Mar low C = 9.8
|Apr low C = 12.8
|May low C = 16.0
|Jun low C = 19.0
|Jul low C = 21.3
|Aug low C = 21.5
|Sep low C = 19.6
|Oct low C = 16.7
|Nov low C = 12.2
|Dec low C = 8.8
|year low C =
|Jan avg record low C= 2.8
|Feb avg record low C= 4.0
|Mar avg record low C= 5.3
|Apr avg record low C= 7.2
|May avg record low C= 11.1
|Jun avg record low C= 15.4
|Jul avg record low C= 18.4
|Aug avg record low C= 18.4
|Sep avg record low C= 16.0
|Oct avg record low C= 12.4
|Nov avg record low C= 7.5
|Dec avg record low C= 4.8
|Jan record low C = 1.4
|Feb record low C = 0.5
|Mar record low C = 2.4
|Apr record low C = 4
|May record low C = 8
|Jun record low C = 13.6
|Jul record low C = 15.8
|Aug record low C = 15.6
|Sep record low C = 13
|Oct record low C = 10.2
|Nov record low C = 3.4
|Dec record low C = 3
|year record low C = 0.5
|Jan precipitation mm = 48
|Feb precipitation mm = 40
|Mar precipitation mm = 29
|Apr precipitation mm = 9
|May precipitation mm = 3.6
|Jun precipitation mm = 0
|Jul precipitation mm = 0
|Aug precipitation mm = 0
|Sep precipitation mm = 0.5
|Oct precipitation mm = 9
|Nov precipitation mm = 18
|Dec precipitation mm = 38
|year precipitation mm =
|Jan precipitation days = 9
|Feb precipitation days = 8
|Mar precipitation days = 6
|Apr precipitation days = 2
|May precipitation days = 1
|Jun precipitation days = 0
|Jul precipitation days = 0
|Aug precipitation days = 0
|Sep precipitation days = 0.2
|Oct precipitation days = 2
|Nov precipitation days = 4
|Dec precipitation days = 7
|year precipitation days =
|Jan humidity = 50
|Feb humidity = 48
|Mar humidity = 44
|Apr humidity = 35
|May humidity = 34
|Jun humidity = 36
|Jul humidity = 38
|Aug humidity = 41
|Sep humidity = 43
|Oct humidity = 42
|Nov humidity = 42
|Dec humidity = 48
|year humidity =
|source 1 = Israel Meteorological Service<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://ims.gov.il/IMS/CLIMATE/LongTermInfo
|title=Averages and Records for Beersheba (Precipitation, Temperature and Records [Excluding January and June] written in the page) between 1981 and 2000
|publisher=Israel Meteorological Service
|date=August 2011
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100914010915/http://www.ims.gov.il/IMS/CLIMATE/LongTermInfo
|archive-date=September 14, 2010
|df=mdy
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://ims.gov.il/IMS/CLIMATE/TopClimetIsrael|title=Records Data for Israel (Data used only for January and June)|publisher=[[Israel Meteorological Service]]|access-date=May 19, 2010|archive-date=May 7, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180507080609/http://www.ims.gov.il/IMS/CLIMATE/TopClimetIsrael|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ims.gov.il/IMS/CLIMATE/ClimaticAtlas/TempNormals.htm |title=Temperature average |publisher=Israel Meteorological Service |access-date=8 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130618145923/http://www.ims.gov.il/IMS/CLIMATE/ClimaticAtlas/TempNormals.htm |archive-date=June 18, 2013 |df=mdy }}{{in lang|he}}</ref><ref name="Precipitation average">{{cite web
|url=http://www.ims.gov.il/IMS/CLIMATE/ClimaticAtlas/RainNormals.htm
|title=Precipitation average
|access-date=12 July 2011
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110925080227/http://www.ims.gov.il/IMS/CLIMATE/ClimaticAtlas/RainNormals.htm
|archive-date=September 25, 2011
|df=mdy
}}{{in lang|he}}</ref>
|source 2 = Israel Meteorological Service<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ims.gov.il/NR/rdonlyres/163FFF5E-ACA3-403F-91AF-5FFA16ED9297/0/TemperatureStation.pdf |title=הסבר לקובץ ערכי טמפרטורה 2013 |date=2013 |publisher=[[Israel Meteorological Service]] |page=11 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160130063638/http://www.ims.gov.il/NR/rdonlyres/163FFF5E-ACA3-403F-91AF-5FFA16ED9297/0/TemperatureStation.pdf |archive-date=January 30, 2016 }}</ref>
}}
==Demography==
Beersheba is one of the fastest-growing cities in Israel. Though it has a population of about 200,000, the city is larger in area than Tel Aviv, and its urban plan calls for an eventual population of 450,000–500,000.<ref>{{cite web |author=The Blueprint Negev and the Future of Israel |url=http://blogs.jpost.com/content/blueprint-negev-and-future-israel |title=The Blueprint Negev and the Future of Israel | Jerusalem Post – Blogs |publisher=Blogs.jpost.com |date=October 18, 2012 |access-date=2013-03-12 |archive-date=December 30, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121230080056/http://blogs.jpost.com/content/blueprint-negev-and-future-israel |url-status=dead }}</ref> It is planned to have a population of 340,000 by 2030.<ref name=globes>{{Cite news|url=https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-beer-sheva-to-have-340000-population-by-2030-1001199649|title=Beer Sheva to have population of 340,000 by 2030|website=Globes|date=February 8, 2017|access-date=May 18, 2019|archive-date=May 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190518115911/https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-beer-sheva-to-have-340000-population-by-2030-1001199649|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2010, the National Council for Planning and Construction approved a master plan with the goal of increasing the population of Beersheba and its metropolitan area to 1 million by 2020. The population of Beersheba is predominantly Jewish. Jews and others represent 97.3% of the population, of whom Jews are 86.5%. Arabs constitute around 2.69% of city population.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbs.gov.il/en/settlements/Pages/default.aspx?mode=Yeshuv|title = Regional Statistics}}</ref> <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.calcalist.co.il/real_estate/articles/0,7340,L-3412128,00.html |title=תוכנית באר שבע אושרה; המטרה – מיליון תושבים עד שנת 2020 |publisher=Calcalist.co.il |date=June 20, 1995 |access-date=2013-03-26 |archive-date=February 3, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203030548/http://www.calcalist.co.il/real_estate/articles/0,7340,L-3412128,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
The [[Israel Central Bureau of Statistics]] divides the Beersheba metropolitan area into two areas:
{| class="wikitable"
|+Metropolitan rings in the Beersheba metropolitan area<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.cbs.gov.il/reader/shnaton/templ_shnaton_e.html?num_tab=st02_25&CYear=2015 | format=PDF | title=LOCALITIES, POPULATION AND DENSITY PER SQ. KM. BY METROPOLITAN AREA | access-date=2016-07-03 | archive-date=October 12, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161012071948/http://www.cbs.gov.il/reader/shnaton/templ_shnaton_e.html?num_tab=st02_25&CYear=2015 | url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
!rowspan="2"| Metropolitan ring
!rowspan="2"| Localities
!colspan="4"| Population (2014 census)
!rowspan="2"| Population density<br />(per km<sup>2</sup>)
!rowspan="2"| Annual Population<br/>growth rate
|-
! [[Israeli Jews]]
! [[Arab citizens of Israel|Israeli Arabs]]
! Others{{efn| name=note1 | Others includes non-Arab Christians and those not classified by religion.}}
! Total
|-
| Core{{efn| name= note2 |Includes the city of Beersheba.}}
| style="text-align: center" | 1
| style="text-align: right" | 177,200
| style="text-align: right" | 4,400
| style="text-align: right" | 19,500
| style="text-align: right" | 201,100
| style="text-align: right" | 1,711.8
| style="text-align: right" | 0.9%
|-
| Outer Ring{{efn| name= note3 |Includes the cities [[Rahat]] and [[Ofakim]], the [[local council (Israel)|local council]]s [[Lehavim]], [[Omer, Israel|Omer]] and [[Tel as-Sabi|Tel Sheva]], as well as many smaller towns (local councils).}}
| style="text-align: center" | 32
| style="text-align: right" | 35,700
| style="text-align: right" | 124,100
| style="text-align: right" | 500
| style="text-align: right" | 160,300
| style="text-align: right" | 286.4
| style="text-align: right" | 3.0%
|-
| Northern Section
| style="text-align: center" | 12
| style="text-align: right" | 11,700
| style="text-align: right" | 72,100
| style="text-align: right" | 200
| style="text-align: right" | 84,000
| style="text-align: right" | 272.8
| style="text-align: right" | 3.2%
|-
| Eastern Section
| style="text-align: center" | 8
| style="text-align: right" | 14,900
| style="text-align: right" | 52,000
| style="text-align: right" | 200
| style="text-align: right" | 67,100
| style="text-align: right" | 527.8
| style="text-align: right" | 2.7%
|-
| Western Section
| style="text-align: center" | 12
| style="text-align: right" | 9,000
| style="text-align: right" | 0
| style="text-align: right" | 100
| style="text-align: right" | 9,100
| style="text-align: right" | 73.2
| style="text-align: right" | 4.4%
|-
| '''Total'''
| style="text-align: center" | '''65'''
| style="text-align: right" | '''248,500'''
| style="text-align: right" | '''252,600'''
| style="text-align: right" | '''20,500'''
| style="text-align: right" | '''521,600'''
| style="text-align: right" | '''533.6'''
| style="text-align: right" | '''1.8%'''
|}
{{notes}}
==Economy==
[[File:Negev Mall Tower.JPG|thumb|150px|Negev Mall Tower]]
The largest employers in Beersheba are [[Soroka Medical Center]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://hospitals.clalit.co.il/hospitals/soroka/en-us/AboutE/Pages/Homepage.aspx|title=About Soroka University Medical Center|website=hospitals.clalit.co.il|access-date=November 25, 2017|archive-date=November 22, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171122053053/http://hospitals.clalit.co.il/hospitals/soroka/en-us/AboutE/Pages/Homepage.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref> the municipality, [[Israel Defense Forces]] and Ben-Gurion University. A major [[Israel Aerospace Industries]] complex is located in the main industrial zone, north of [[Highway 60 (Israel)|Highway 60]]. Numerous electronics and chemical plants, including [[Teva Pharmaceutical Industries]], are located in and around the city.
Beersheba is emerging as a high-tech center, with an emphasis on cyber security.<ref name=globes2 /> A large high-tech park is being built near the [[Be'er Sheva North Railway Station]].<ref name="autogenerated2"/> [[Deutsche Telekom]], [[Elbit Systems]], [[EMC Corporation|EMC]], [[Lockheed Martin]], [[Ness Technologies]], [[WeWork]] and [[RAD Data Communications]] have already opened facilities there, as has a cyberincubator run by [[Jerusalem Venture Partners]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Bousso|first=Nimrod|title=Desert Storm: Be'er Sheva Rapidly Emerges as Global Cyber Center|url=http://www.haaretz.com/business/.premium-1.653014|work=[[Ha'aretz]]|date=April 24, 2015|access-date=September 10, 2015|archive-date=October 18, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018050334/http://www.haaretz.com/business/.premium-1.653014|url-status=live}}</ref> A [[Science park]] funded by the RASHI-SACTA Foundation, Beersheba Municipality and private donors was completed in 2008.<ref name="autogenerated2">{{cite web |url=http://duns100.dundb.co.il/2007/vp/600143622/index.asp |title=Dun's 100 2007 – Be'er-Sheva Municipality VP |publisher=Duns100.dundb.co.il |access-date=2009-05-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090221004609/http://duns100.dundb.co.il/2007/vp/600143622/index.asp |archive-date=February 21, 2009 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Another high-tech park is located north of the city near [[Omer, Israel|Omer]].
An additional three industrial zones are located on the southeastern side of the city – Makhteshim, Emek Sara and Kiryat Yehudit – and a light industry zone between Kiryat Yehudit and the Old City.
==Local government==
[[File:PikiWiki Israel 10420 court house in beer sheva.jpg|thumb|Beersheba District Court]]
The Beersheba municipality was plagued for many years by an ineffectual leadership, political problems and poor financial planning. Since 2005, attention has been focused on developing parks and infrastructure. A new youth center opened in 2005, and a new cultural centre opened in 2008. In 2006, after many years of financial struggle, the municipality has achieved a balanced budget.<ref>[http://duns100.dundb.co.il/companies/600143622/index.asp Beer-Sheva Municipality] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090221005430/http://duns100.dundb.co.il/companies/600143622/index.asp |date=February 21, 2009 }}, ''Dun's 100,'' 2006</ref>
The official emblem of the municipality of Beersheba depicts an ''eshel'' ([[Tamarix|tamarisk]] tree), the tree planted by Abraham according to Genesis,<ref>Genesis / Bereishit 21:33</ref> and the observation tower connected to the municipality building.
The mayor of Beersheba is [[Ruvik Danilovich]],<ref name="Halon 2020">{{cite web | last=Halon | first=Eytan | title=Beersheba rises as Israel's new tech hub | website=The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com | date=2020-01-11 | url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/beersheba-rises-as-israels-new-tech-hub-613775 | access-date=2020-12-30 | archive-date=January 22, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122182032/https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/beersheba-rises-as-israels-new-tech-hub-613775 | url-status=live }}</ref> who was deputy mayor under [[Yaakov Turner]].<ref name="Cashman 2013">{{cite web | last=Cashman | first=Greer Fay | title=Grapevine: Political successes – and successors | website=The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com | date=2013-11-02 | url=https://www.jpost.com/metro/features/grapevine-political-successes-and-successors-330403 | access-date=2020-12-30 | archive-date=October 7, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201007151844/https://www.jpost.com/metro/features/grapevine-political-successes-and-successors-330403 | url-status=live }}</ref>
{| class="sortable wikitable"
|+ Mayors of Beersheba
!
! Name
! Political party
! Took office
! Left office
! Years in office
|-
|1
|[[David Tuviyahu]]
|[[Mapai]]
|align=center|1950
|align=center|1961
|align=center|11
|-
|2
|[[Ze'ev Zrizi]]
|[[Mapam]]
|align=center|1961
|align=center|1963
|align=center|2
|-
|3
|[[Eliyahu Nawi]]
|Mapai
|align=center|1963
|align=center|1986
|align=center|23
|-
|4
|{{interlanguage link|Moshe Zilberman|he|משה_זילברמן}}
|[[Independent politician|Independent]]
|align=center|1986
|align=center|1989
|align=center|3
|-
|5
|[[Yitzhak Rager]]
|[[Likud]]
|align=center|1989
|align=center|1997
|align=center|8
|-
|6
|{{interlanguage link|David Bunfeld|he|דוד_בונפלד}}
|Likud
|align=center|1997
|align=center|1998
|align=center|1
|-
|7
|[[Yaakov Turner]]
|[[Israeli Labor Party|Labor]]
|align=center|1998
|align=center|2008
|align=center|10
|-
|8
|[[Ruvik Danilovich]]
|Labor, New Way
|align=center|2008
|align=center|{{nbsp}}
|align=center|{{nbsp}}
|}
==Educational institutions==
[[File:Ben Gurion University of the Negev - IsraelMFA 02.jpg|thumb|[[Ben Gurion University of the Negev]]]]
According to [[CBS]], Beersheba has 81 schools and a student population of 33,623: 60 elementary schools with an enrollment of 17,211, and 39 high schools with an enrollment of 16,412. Of Beersheba's 12th graders, 52.7% earned a [[Bagrut]] matriculation certificate in 2001. The city also has several private schools and [[Yeshiva|yeshivot]] that cater to the religious sector.
[[File:PikiWiki Israel 4451 College of Engineering Sammy Shamun.JPG|thumb|Shamoon College of Engineering]]
Beersheba is home to one of Israel's major universities, [[Ben-Gurion University of the Negev]], located on an urban campus in the city (Dalet neighborhood). Other schools in Beersheva are the [[Open University of Israel]], [[Shamoon College of Engineering]] (SCE), [[Kaye Academic College of Education]], Practical Engineering College of Beersheba ({{transl|jeb|Hamikhlala ha technologit shel Be'er sheva}}),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tcb.ac.il/ |title=technical college website |publisher=Tcb.ac.il |access-date=2013-08-08 |archive-date=January 13, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113165518/http://www.tcb.ac.il/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and a campus of the Israeli Air and Space College (''[[Beersheba Tehni School|Techni Be'er sheva]] '')<ref>{{cite web |url=http://techni-bs.iscool.co.il |title=school website |publisher=Techni-bs.iscool.co.il |access-date=2013-08-08 |archive-date=May 5, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190505132958/http://techni-bs.iscool.co.il/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Neighborhoods==
{{Main|Neighborhoods of Beersheba}}
After Israeli independence, Beersheba became a "laboratory" for [[Architecture of Israel|Israeli architecture]].<ref name="haaretz.com">[http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1082108.html Haaretz.com], "Magic Carpet: The Carpet-Style Patio Homes of Be'er Sheva"], ''[[Haaretz]]''</ref> ''Mishol Girit,'' a neighborhood built in the late 1950s, was the first attempt to create an alternative to the standard public housing projects in Israel. ''Hashatiah'' (literally, "the carpet"), also known as {{transl|he|Hashekhuna ledugma}} (the model neighborhood), was hailed by architects around the world.<ref name="haaretz.com"/> Today, Beersheba is divided into seventeen residential neighborhoods in addition to the Old City and Ramot, an umbrella neighborhood of four sub-districts. Many of the neighbourhoods are named after letters of the [[Hebrew alphabet]], which also have numerical value, but descriptive place names have been given to some of the newer neighborhoods.
==Art and cultural institutions==
[[File:PikiWiki Israel 10581 Beer Sheva Cinema keren.jpg|thumb|Keren Cinema, first movie theater in the Negev]]
In 1953, Cinema Keren, the Negev's first movie theater, opened in Beersheba. It was built by the [[Histadrut]] and had seating for 1,200 people.<ref>Be'er-Sheva Tours and Trails, Adi Wolfson and Zeev Zivan, 2017, p.20</ref>
Beersheba is the home base of the Israel Sinfonietta, founded in 1973. Over the years, the Sinfonietta has developed a broad repertoire of symphonic works, concerti for solo instruments and large choral productions, among them [[Handel]]'s ''[[Israel in Egypt]],'' masses by [[Schubert]] and [[Mozart]], [[Rossini]]'s "Stabat Mater" and [[Vivaldi]]'s "Gloria." World-famous artists have appeared as soloists with the Sinfonietta, including [[Pinchas Zukerman]], [[Jean-Pierre Rampal]], [[Shlomo Mintz]], [[Gary Karr]], and [[Paul Tortelier]].<ref>[http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2002/7/Sounds%20from%20the%20South, Sounds from the South] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121009234550/http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2002/7/Sounds%20from%20the%20South |date=October 9, 2012 }}</ref> In the 1970s, a memorial commemorating fallen Israeli soldiers designed by the sculptor [[Dani Karavan|Danny Karavan]] was erected on a hill north-east of the city.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A4499625 |title=h2g2 – Be'er Sheva, Israel – A4499625 |publisher=BBC |access-date=2009-05-05| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090531054720/http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A4499625| archive-date= May 31, 2009 | url-status= live}}</ref> The [[Beersheba Theater]] opened in 1973. The Light Opera Group of the Negev, established in 1980, performs musicals in English every year.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasen/pages/ShArtStEngPE.jhtml?itemNo=957537&contrassID=2&subContrassID=5&title='The%20salons%20of%20the%20South%20'&dyn_server=172.20.5.5 |title=The salons of the South – Haaretz – Israel News |newspaper=Haaretz |date=December 24, 2006 |access-date=2009-05-05 }}{{Dead link|date=August 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
Landmarks in the city include "[[Abraham's well]]", a well dating to at least the 12th century CE (now inside a visitors center), and the old Turkish railway station, now the focus of development plans.<ref>[http://www.jpost.com/Home/Article.aspx?id=175455 "Blueprint for Beersheba"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100924131935/http://www.jpost.com/home/article.aspx?id=175455 |date=September 24, 2010 }}, JPost</ref> The Artists House of the Negev, in a Mandate-era building, showcases artwork connected in some way to the Negev.<ref>[http://www.jpost.com/Travel/AroundIsrael/Article.aspx?id=42954 "Touch and feel the Negev"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210529125146/https://www.jpost.com/Travel/Around-Israel/Touch-and-feel-the-Negev |date=May 29, 2021 }}, JPost</ref>
The [[Negev Museum of Art]] reopened in 2004 in the Ottoman Governor's House, and an art and media center for young people was established in the Old City.
In 2009, a new tourist and [[Visitor center|information center]], Gateway to the Negev, was built.<ref name="Lubliner">{{cite web|last=Lubliner |first=Elan |url=http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1233304840270&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull |title='Gateway' center aims to help the Negev bloom again |series=Around Israel |work=Jerusalem Post |date=February 21, 2009 |access-date=2009-05-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110813132548/http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1233304840270&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull |archive-date=August 13, 2011 }}</ref>
===Great Mosque of Beersheba===
[[File:D283-042.jpg|alt=The Great Mosque of Beersheba in 1948|thumb|The Great Mosque of Beersheba in 1948]]
In 1906, during the [[Ottoman era]], the Great Mosque of Beersheba was built with donations collected from the Bedouin residents in the Negev. It was used actively as a mosque until the city fell to Israeli forces in 1948.<ref name="Al_Akhbar_2014">{{citation |url=http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/22980 |title=In latest attack on Palestinian heritage, Israel reopens museum in old mosque |access-date=January 23, 2015 |date=December 22, 2014 |work=Al Akhbar Newsletter |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170225014213/http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/22980 |archive-date=February 25, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The mosque was used until 1953 as the city's courthouse. From then until the 1990s, when it was closed for renovations, the building housed an archeological museum, which the city intended to turn into the archeological branch of the Negev Museum.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1089841.html |title=Will Be'er Sheva allow Muslims to use city's only mosque? – Haaretz – Israel News |newspaper=Haaretz |access-date=2009-07-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090606135706/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1089841.html| archive-date= June 6, 2009 | url-status= live}}</ref> In 2011, however, the [[Supreme Court of Israel]], sitting as the [[Supreme Court of Israel#High Court of Justice|High Court of Justice]], ordered the property to be turned into a museum of [[Islam]] without reverting to a place of worship.<ref>{{cite news|last=Curiel|first=Ilana|title=Beersheba mosque to become Islam museum|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4086545,00.html|work=[[Yediot Ahronot]]|date=June 24, 2011|access-date=March 18, 2015|archive-date=April 2, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402131209/http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4086545,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Transportation==
{{Main|Transport in Beersheba}}
Beersheba is the central transport hub of southern Israel, served by roads, railways and air. Beersheba is connected to [[Tel Aviv]] via [[Highway 40 (Israel)|Highway 40]], the second longest highway in Israel, which passes to the east of the city and is called the Beersheba bypass because it allows travellers from the north to go to southern locations, avoiding the more congested city center. From west to east, the city is divided by [[Highway 25 (Israel)|Highway 25]], which connects to [[Ashkelon]] and the [[Gaza Strip]] to the northwest, and [[Dimona]] to the east. Finally, Highway 60 connects Beersheba with Jerusalem and the Shoket Junction, and goes through the [[West Bank]]. On the local level, a partial [[Beltway|ring road]] surrounds the city from the north and east, and Road 406 (Rager Blvd.) goes through the city center from north to south.
[[Metrodan Beersheba]], established in 2003, had a fleet of 90 buses and operates 19 lines in the city between 2003 and 2016, most of which depart from the Beersheba Central Bus Station.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://eng.negev-net.org.il/HTMLs/article.aspx?C2004=12553&BSP=12316|title=Transportation in the Negev|publisher=Negev Information Center|access-date=2008-03-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080614091857/http://eng.negev-net.org.il/HTMLs/article.aspx?C2004=12553&BSP=12316|archive-date=June 14, 2008|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref> These lines were formerly operated by the municipality as the 'Be'er Sheva Urban Bus Services'. Inter-city buses to and from Beersheba are operated by [[Egged Bus Cooperative|Egged]], [[Dan BaDarom]] and [[Metropoline]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://metropoline.com/map.asp|title=Map of lines of the Metropoline company|publisher=Metropoline|access-date=2008-11-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081217065744/http://www.metropoline.com/map.asp|archive-date=December 17, 2008|url-status=dead|language=he}}</ref> The intercity bus service was transferred to [[Dan Be'er Sheva]] in 25'th of November 2016 and Metrodan Beersheva had been shut down. With the change to Dan Be'er Sheva the company introduced electronic payment stopping pay at the driver which was common in Beersheba.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.danbr7.co.il/pages/4.aspx|title=תשלום עבור נסיעה - דן באר שבע|website=www.danbr7.co.il|access-date=February 22, 2017|archive-date=February 22, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170222200045/http://www.danbr7.co.il/pages/4.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:PikiWiki Israel 4499 Pedestrian Bridge.JPG|thumb|left|Mexico Bridge from railway station to Ben-Gurion University]]
[[Israel Railways]] operates two stations in the city that form part of the [[railway to Beersheba]]: the old [[Be'er Sheva North Railway Station|Be'er Sheva North University]] station, adjacent to Ben Gurion University and [[Soroka Medical Center]], and the new [[Be'er Sheva Center Railway Station|Be'er Sheva Central]] station, adjacent to the central bus station. Between the two stations, the railway splits into two, and also continues to Dimona and [[Dead Sea|the Dead Sea]] factories. An extension is planned to Eilat<ref name="eilat rail">{{cite news|url=http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3520156,00.html |work=[[Ynet]] |language=he |date=March 17, 2008 |access-date=2008-03-25 |author=Hazelkorn, Shahar |title=Mofaz Decided: A Railway to Eilat Will Be Built |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080321230635/http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0%2C7340%2CL-3520156%2C00.html |archive-date=March 21, 2008 |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[Arad, Israel|Arad]].
The Be'er Sheva North University station is the terminus of the line to Dimona. All stations of Israel Railways can be accessed from Beersheba using [[Interchange station|transfer stations]] in Tel Aviv and [[Lod]]. Until 2012, the [[Railway to Beersheba|railway line to Beersheba]] used a slow single-track configuration with sharp curves and many [[level crossing]]s which limited train speed. Between 2004 and 2012 the line was double tracked and rebuilt using an improved alignment and all its level crossings were [[grade separation|grade separated]]. The rebuilding effort cost [[Israeli new shekel|NIS]] 2.8 billion and significantly reduced the travel time and greatly increased the train frequency to and from Tel Aviv and [[Kiryat Motzkin]] to Beersheba.<ref>{{cite news|last=Bocker|first=Ran|title=From Beersheva to Tel Aviv in 55 Minutes|url=http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4255551,00.html|access-date=July 15, 2012|newspaper=[[Ynet]]|date=July 15, 2012|language=he|archive-date=July 17, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120717175444/http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4255551,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In addition, Beersheba will be linked to Tel Aviv and Eilat by a new passenger and freight [[High speed railway to Eilat|high-speed railway system]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.airrailnews.com/index.php/component/simplelists/item/929 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130410122729/http://www.airrailnews.com/index.php/component/simplelists/item/929 |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 10, 2013 |title=Eilat high speed rail line gets green line |publisher=Airrailnews.com |date=February 14, 2013 |access-date=2013-03-26 }}</ref>
There have been plans for a [[light rail]] system in Beersheba for many years, and a light rail system appears in the master plan for the city.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4055675,00.html |title=mynet באר שבע – רכבת קלה? הצחקתם את הבאר שבעיים |publisher=Mynet.co.il |date=June 20, 1995 |access-date=2013-03-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170126152544/http://www.mynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4055675,00.html |archive-date=January 26, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> An agreement was signed for the construction of a light rail system in 1998, but was not implemented. In 2008, the [[Ministry of Finance (Israel)|Israeli Finance Ministry]] contemplated freezing the [[Tel Aviv Light Rail]] project and building a light rail system in Beersheba instead, but that did not happen. In 2014, mayor [[Ruvik Danilovich]] announced that the light rail system will be built in the city.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?fbdid=137231|title=נחתם ההסכם הסופי לתכנון רכבת קלה בבאר שבע - גלובס|newspaper=Globes|date=January 13, 1998|access-date=August 8, 2016|archive-date=August 15, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160815152154/http://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?fbdid=137231|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bizportal.co.il/realestates/news/article/397165|title="מספיק להגר למרכז - יש כאן דירות בחצי מיליון שקל, והרבה מהן" - Bizportal|access-date=August 12, 2015|archive-date=September 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923191526/http://www.bizportal.co.il/realestates/news/article/397165|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jpost.com/Local-Israel/Tel-Aviv-And-Center/Tel-Aviv-light-rail-project-may-be-stopped-in-its-tracks|title=Tel Aviv light rail project may be stopped in its tracks|access-date=August 12, 2015|archive-date=March 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304082959/http://www.jpost.com/Local-Israel/Tel-Aviv-And-Center/Tel-Aviv-light-rail-project-may-be-stopped-in-its-tracks|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2017, the Ministry of Transport gave the Beersheba municipality approval to proceed with preliminary planning on a light rail system.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.railjournal.com/regions/middle-east/beer-sheva-develops-light-rail-plans/|title=Beer-Sheva develops light rail plans|date=July 11, 2017|access-date=May 18, 2019|archive-date=May 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190518121412/https://www.railjournal.com/regions/middle-east/beer-sheva-develops-light-rail-plans/|url-status=live}}</ref>
===Hiking===
Beersheba is linked to ''Hilvan'' by the [[Abraham Path]].{{Citation needed|date=December 2017}}
==Sports==
[[Hapoel Be'er Sheva F.C.|Hapoel Be'er Sheva]] plays in the [[Israeli Premier League]], the top tier of [[Football in Israel|Israeli football]], having been promoted in the [[2008–09 Liga Leumit|2008–2009]] [[Liga Leumit]] season. The club has won the Israeli championship five times, in 1975, 1976, 2016, 2017 and 2018, as well as the [[Israel State Cup|State Cup]] in 1997 and 2020. Beersheba has two other local clubs, [[Maccabi Be'er Sheva F.C.|Maccabi Be'er Sheva]] (based in [[Neighborhoods of Beersheba#Neve Noy|Neve Noy]]) and [[F.C. Be'er Sheva]] (based in the north of [[Neighborhoods of Beersheba#Dalet|Dalet]]), a continuation of the defunct [[Beitar Avraham Be'er Sheva F.C.|Beitar Avraham Be'er Sheva]]. Hapoel play at the [[Turner Stadium]].
Beersheba has a basketball club, [[Hapoel Be'er Sheva B.C.|Hapoel Be'er Sheva]]. The team plays at The [[Conch Arena]], which seats 3,000.
Beersheba has become Israel's national [[chess]] center; thanks to Soviet immigration, it is home to the largest number of [[Grandmaster (chess)|chess grandmasters]] of any city in the world.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Chess masters set to compete in world blitz championship |first=Eitan |last=Bekerman |newspaper=Haaretz |date=September 4, 2006 |url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/758461.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081011075109/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/758461.html |archive-date=October 11, 2008 }}</ref> The city hosted the [[World Team Chess Championship]] in 2005, and chess is taught in the city's kindergartens.<ref>{{Cite journal |url=http://www.fide.com/component/content/article/9-other/2182-673-world-team-championship-in-beer-sheva-israel |title=World Team Championship in Beer Sheva, Israel |publisher=World Chess Federation |access-date=March 13, 2009 |date=November 1, 2005 |journal= |archive-date=December 4, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101204083206/http://www.fide.com/component/content/article/9-other/2182-673-world-team-championship-in-beer-sheva-israel |url-status=live }}</ref> The Israeli chess team won the silver medal at the [[38th Chess Olympiad|2008 Chess Olympiad]]<ref>{{Cite news |title=Israel takes silver medal at Chess Olympiad |first=Uri |last=Tzahor |newspaper=Ynewnews.com |date=November 26, 2008 |url=http://www.ynet.co.il/english/articles/0,7340,L-3628765,00.html |access-date=November 24, 2010 |archive-date=May 1, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501094812/http://www.ynet.co.il/english/articles/0,7340,L-3628765,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and the bronze at the [[39th Chess Olympiad|2010 Olympiad]]. The chess club was founded in 1973 by Eliyahu Levant, who is still the driving spirit behind it.<ref>{{cite news|work=Jerusalem Post|date=December 12, 2004|author=Gavin Rabinowitz|page=4|title=Beersheba is king of world chess|url=http://highbeam.com/doc/1P1-103365216.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614213930/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-103365216.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 14, 2011|quote=By all accounts it is Levant, 76, who is responsible for chess taking root in these arid surroundings... Klenburg says the club's success is all owed to Levant. "He was the right man at the right time,"}}</ref>
The city has the second largest [[wrestling]] center (AMI wrestling school) in Israel. {{Citation needed|date=April 2009}} The center is run by Leonid Shulman and has approximately 2,000 students, most of whom are from Russian immigrant families since the origins of the club are in the [[Neighborhoods of Beersheba#Nahal Beka|Nahal Beka]] immigrant absorption center. Maccabi Be'er Sheva has a freestyle wrestling team, whilst Hapoel Be'er Sheva has a Greco-Roman wrestling team. In the [[2010 World Wrestling Championships]], AMI students won five medals.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3833478,00.html |title=mynet באר שבע – באר שבע מובילה במאבק על ספורט ההאבקות |publisher=Mynet.co.il |access-date=2013-03-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170806021059/http://www.mynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3833478,00.html |archive-date=August 6, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Cricket is played under the auspices of [[Israel Cricket Association]]. Beersheba is also home to a [[Rugby union|rugby]] team, whose senior and youth squads have won several national titles (including the recent Senior National League 2004–2005 championship).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rugbycity.net/|title=ミニ|access-date=December 31, 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070529235006/http://www.rugbycity.net/|archive-date=May 29, 2007|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Beersheba's tennis center, which opened in 1991, features eight lighted courts, and the Beersheba (Teyman) airfield is used for [[gliding]].
==Environmental awards==
In 2012, the Beersheba "ring trail", a 42-kilometer hiking trail around the city, won third place in the annual environmental competition of the European Travelers Association.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4289338,00.html |title=Beersheba wins EU's green travel award |publisher=Ynetnews.com |date=June 20, 1995 |access-date=2013-08-08 |archive-date=February 1, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130201184546/http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4289338,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Notable people==
[[File:Ilan Ramon, NASA photo portrait in orange suit.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Ilan Ramon]]]]
* [[Orna Banai]] (born 1966), actress, comedian, and entertainer
* [[Elyaniv Barda]] (born 1981), footballer
* [[Zehava Ben]] (born 1968), singer
* [[Avishay Braverman]] (born 1948), professor and politician, president of the [[Ben-Gurion University of the Negev]]
* [[Almog Cohen]] (born 1988), footballer
* [[Ruvik Danilovich]] (born 1971), 8th mayor of Be'er - Sheva
* [[Anat Draigor]] (born 1960), basketball player
* [[Eli Alaluf]] (born 1945), politician
* [[Ronit Elkabetz]] (1964–2016), actress
* [[Velvl Greene]] (1928–2011), Canadian–American–Israeli scientist and academic
* [[Zvika Hadar]] (born 1966), comedian and show host
* [[Boaz Huss]] (born 1959), professor of [[Kabbalah]] at [[Ben-Gurion University of the Negev]]
*[[Ron Kaplan]] (born 1970), Olympic gymnast
* [[Victor Mikhalevski]] (born 1972), chess grandmaster
* [[David Naccache]] (born 1967), cryptologist, professor at France's Ecole normale supérieure
* [[David Newman (political geographer)|David Newman]] (born 1956), professor and Dean of Social Science and Humanities, BGU
* [[Ilan Ramon]] (1954–2003), Israel's first astronaut; died in the [[Space Shuttle Columbia disaster|Columbia disaster]]
* [[Yehudit Ravitz]] (born 1956), singer
*[[Idan Tal]] (born 1975), footballer
* [[Eli Zizov]] (born 1991), footballer
* [[Ze'ev Zrizi]] (1916–2011), second mayor of Beersheba
==Twin towns – sister cities==
{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Israel}}
Beersheba is [[Sister city|twinned]] with:<ref>{{cite web|title=ערים תאומות|url=https://www.beer-sheva.muni.il/City/OnTheCity/foreignRelations/Pages/ArimTeomot.aspx|website=beer-sheva.muni.il|publisher=Beersheba|language=he|access-date=2020-11-09|archive-date=October 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001124936/https://www.beer-sheva.muni.il/City/OnTheCity/foreignRelations/Pages/ArimTeomot.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref>
{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
*{{flagicon|TUR}} [[Adana]], Turkey
*{{flagicon|ETH}} [[Addis Ababa]], Ethiopia
*{{flagicon|ROU}} [[Cluj-Napoca]], Romania
*{{flagicon|FRA}} [[Lyon]], France
*{{flagicon|SRB}} [[Niš]], Serbia
*{{flagicon|GEO}} [[Oni, Georgia|Oni]], Georgia
*{{flagicon|AUS}} [[City of Parramatta|Parramatta]], Australia
*{{flagicon|ARG}} [[La Plata]], Argentina
<!--Rosenheim - twinning ended-->
*{{flagicon|USA}} [[Seattle]], United States
*{{flagicon|CAN}} [[Winnipeg]], Canada
*{{flagicon|GER}} [[Wuppertal]], Germany
*{{flagicon|GER}} [[Munich]], Germany
{{div col end}}
==In popular culture==
* [[Ziva David]], a former [[Mossad]] [[spy|agent]], [[Naval Criminal Investigative Service|NCIS]] [[Special Agent]] and one of the main characters of the [[CBS]] television series ''[[NCIS (TV series)|NCIS]]'' is from Beersheba.
==See also==
*[http://www.beer-sheva.muni.il/Eng/Pages/default.aspx Be'er Sheva Municipal Website]
* [[Battle of Beersheba (1917)|Battle of Beersheba]] (First World War)
* [[Beer Sheva Park (Seattle)|Beer Sheva Park]], [[Seattle]]
* [[:File:BeershevaRegion1940s.jpg|Map of Beersheba and surrounds in the 1940s and 1950s]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
==Bibliography==
*{{cite book|last=Fabri|first=Felix|authorlink=Felix Fabri|year=1893|url=https://archive.org/details/libraryofpalesti02paleuoft |title= Felix Fabri (circa 1480–1483 A.D.) vol II, part II| publisher= [[Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society]]}}
* {{cite journal |last=Thareani-Sussely |first=Yifat |title=The 'Archaeology of the Days of Manasseh' Reconsidered in the Light of Evidence From The Beersheba Valley |journal=Palestine Exploration Quarterly |volume=139 |issue=2 |year=2007 |pages=69–77 |doi=10.1179/003103207x194091|s2cid=161326436 }}
==External links==
{{Commons}}
{{wikivoyage-inline|Beer Sheva}}
* [http://www.beer-sheva.muni.il/ Beersheba City Council]
* [https://www.flickr.com/groups/beer-sheva/ Selection of photos from Beer Sheva] from [[flickr]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080406233300/http://web.bgu.ac.il/Eng/home/ Ben-Gurion University]
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A4499625 The city of Beersheba: a tourist's guide]
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02518a.htm Beer-Sheva] – Historical article from the [[Catholic Encyclopedia|Catholic Encyclopaedia]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080614033657/http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22682910-2702,00.html Light Horse charges again] Article written by Martin Chulov, published in The Australian, November 1, 2007, the descendants of the Australian light-horsemen rode into the centre of Beersheva, re-enacting the gallant gallop of October 31, 1917
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070824023021/http://www.aliciapatterson.org/APF001971/Downie/Downie04/Downie04.html Israel Builds] Expansion and architecture of Beersheva in the 1960s and 1970s
* [http://www.jpost.com/Home/Article.aspx?id=175455 Blueprint for Beersheba]
*{{cite web |last=Goodchild |first=Philip |author2=Talbert, Andrew |title=Beersheba & Abraham |url=http://www.bibledex.com/israel/beersheba.html |work=Bibledex in Israel |year= 2010 |publisher=[[Brady Haran]] for the [[University of Nottingham]]}}
* Tsagai Asamain, [http://www.iaa-conservation.org.il/Projects_Item_eng.asp?subject_id=10&site_id=9&id=71 Be'er Sheva-Compound C:Conservation measures during the excavation], [http://www.antiquities.org.il/home_eng.asp Israel Antiquities Authority Site] – [https://web.archive.org/web/20140626044723/http://iaa-conservation.org.il/index_eng.asp Conservation Department]
* Yardena Etgar and Ofer Cohen, [http://www.iaa-conservation.org.il/Projects_Item_eng.asp?subject_id=10&site_id=9&id=8 Tel Be’er Sheva: The Underground Water Reservoir System], [http://www.antiquities.org.il/home_eng.asp Israel Antiquities Authority Site] – [https://web.archive.org/web/20140626044723/http://iaa-conservation.org.il/index_eng.asp Conservation Department]
* Shauli Sela and Fuad Abu-Taa, [http://www.iaa-conservation.org.il/Projects_Item_eng.asp?subject_id=10&site_id=9&id=25 The Turkish Mosque and the Governor's House: Conservation of the stone and plaster], [http://www.antiquities.org.il/home_eng.asp Israel Antiquities Authority Site] – [https://web.archive.org/web/20140626044723/http://iaa-conservation.org.il/index_eng.asp Conservation Department]
*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 24: [http://www.iaa-archives.org.il/zoom/zoom.aspx?folder_id=93&type_id=6&id=8386 IAA], [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Survey_of_Western_Palestine_1880.24.jpg Wikimedia commons]
*[https://beersheva.city/ BeerSheva.city], the first French portal of the city
{{Beersheba}}
{{South District (Israel)}}
{{Largest Israeli cities}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Beersheba| ]]<!--please leave the empty space as standard-->
[[Category:Cities in Southern District (Israel)]]
[[Category:History of Israel by location|Beersheba]]
[[Category:Chess in Israel]]
[[Category:Hebrew Bible cities]]
[[Category:Torah cities]]
[[Category:Establishments in the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy)]]
[[Category:1900s establishments in Ottoman Syria]]' |
New page wikitext, after the edit (new_wikitext) | '{{About|the city in Israel|}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2015}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Beersheba
| native_name = {{Hlist
| {{Lang|he|{{Script/Hebrew|בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע}}|rtl=yes}}
| {{Lang|ar|{{lang|ar|بئر السبع}}|rtl=yes}}
}}
| settlement_type = [[List of cities in Israel|City]]
| translit_lang1 = Hebrew
| translit_lang1_type3 = Also spelled
| translit_lang1_info3 = {{br separated entries|Be'er Sheva'{{citation needed|date=June 2019}} (official)| Be'er Sheva, Beer Sheva (unofficial) }}
| image_skyline = {{center|{{Photomontage
|photo1a = Beersheba City Hall 6.jpg
|photo1b = BSNU.jpg
|photo2a = בית המושל באר שבע.jpg
|photo2b = PikiWiki Israel 36687 Beersheba birds eye view.JPG
|photo3e = Kikar Hamitnadvim, Beersheba.jpg
|photo4e = Be'er Sheva at night.jpg
|size = 280
|color = transparent
|border = 0
}}}}
| image_caption = '''From Upper left:''' Beersheba City Hall, [[Ben-Gurion University of the Negev]], [[Negev Museum of Art]], view of downtown, Volunteers square, Be'er Sheva at night
| image_blank_emblem = [[File:Coat of arms of Beersheba.svg|60px]]
| pushpin_map_alt =
| pushpin_map = Israel north negev#Israel
| pushpin_mapsize = 250
| pushpin_label_position =
| pushpin_map_caption =
| coordinates = {{coord|31|15|32|N|34|47|59|E|region:IL|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
| subdivision_name = Israel
| subdivision_type1 =
| subdivision_name1 =
| subdivision_type2 = [[Districts of Israel|District]]
| subdivision_name2 = [[Southern District (Israel)|Southern]]
| established_title = Founded
| established_date = 4000 BC <small>([[Tel Be'er Sheva]])</small><br />1900 (The new city)
| leader_title = Mayor
| leader_name = [[Ruvik Danilovich]]
| unit_pref = dunam
| area_total_dunam = {{formatnum:117500|R}}
| population_footnotes = {{Israel populations|reference}}
| population_total = {{Israel populations|Be'er Sheva}}
| population_as_of = {{Israel populations|Year}}
| population_density_km2 = auto
| elevation_m = 260
| blank_name_sec1 = Name meaning
| blank_info_sec1 = Well of the Oath<sup>([[#Etymology|see also]])</sup>
| website = {{url|http://www.beer-sheva.muni.il/|beer-sheva.muni.il}}
}}
'''Beersheba''' ({{IPAc-en|b|ɪər|ˈ|ʃ|iː|b|ə}}; {{lang-he|בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע|'''Be'er Sheva'''}}, {{IPA-he|ˈbe(ʔ)eʁ ˈʃeva(ʕ)|IPA|He-Beer Sheva.ogg}}; {{lang-ar|بئر السبع|Biʾr as-Sabʿ|Well of the Oath/the Seven}}) is the largest city in the [[Negev]] desert of southern [[Israel]]. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the center of the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in Israel, the [[List of cities in Israel|eighth-most populous Israeli city]] with a population of {{Israel populations|Be'er Sheva}},{{Israel populations|reference}} and the second-largest city (after [[Jerusalem]]) with a total area of 117,500 [[dunam]]s.
The [[biblical archaeology|Biblical]] site of Beersheba is [[Tel Be'er Sheva]], lying some 4 km distant from the modern city, which was established at the start of the 20th century by the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Turks]].<ref name=Berman>{{cite journal | author = Mildred Berman | title = The Evolution of Beersheba as an Urban Center | journal = Annals of the Association of American Geographers | volume = 55 | number = 2 | year = 1965 | pages = 308–326 | doi=10.1111/j.1467-8306.1965.tb00520.x}}</ref> The city was captured by the British-led [[Australian Light Horse]] in the [[Battle of Beersheba (1917)|Battle of Beersheba]] during [[World War I]]. In 1947, ''Bir Seb'a'' ({{lang-ar|بئر السبع}}), as it was known, was envisioned as part of the Arab state in the [[United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine]]. Following the [[Israeli Declaration of Independence|declaration of Israel's independence]], the [[Egyptian army]] amassed its forces in Beersheba as a strategic and logistical base. In the [[Battle of Beersheba (1948)|Battle of Beersheba]] waged in October 1948, it was conquered by the [[Israel Defense Forces]].<ref>''Guide to Israel'', [[Zev Vilnay]], Hamakor Press, Jerusalem, 1972, pp.309–14</ref>
Beersheba has grown considerably since Israel's independence. A large portion of the population is made up of the descendants of [[Sephardi Jews]] and [[Mizrahi Jews]] who [[Jewish exodus from Arab lands|immigrated from Arab countries]] after 1948, as well as smaller communities of [[Bene Israel]] and [[Cochin Jews]] from India. Second and third waves of immigration have taken place since 1990, bringing Russian-speaking [[Ashkenazi Jews|Ashkenazi Jewish]] immigrants from the former [[Soviet Union]], as well as [[Beta Israel]] immigrants from [[Ethiopia]]. The Soviet immigrants have made the game of [[chess]] a major sport in Beersheba, and it is now Israel's national chess center, with more [[Grandmaster (chess)|chess grandmasters]] per capita than any other city in the world, making it the chess capital of the world in some regards.<ref>[http://articles.latimes.com/2005/jan/30/news/adfg-ichess30 "Beersheba Masters Kings, Knights, Pawns"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170706042638/http://articles.latimes.com/2005/jan/30/news/adfg-ichess30 |date=July 6, 2017 }}, ''Los Angeles Times'', January 30, 2005</ref>
Beersheba is home to [[Ben-Gurion University of the Negev]]. This city also serves as a center for [[Science and technology in Israel|Israel's high-tech and developing technology industry]].<ref name=globes2>{{cite web|url=http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-beersheva-makes-mark-as-israels-hidden-hi-tech-hub-1001085859|title=Beersheva: Israel's emerging high-tech hub - Globes English|date=December 4, 2015|access-date=December 4, 2015|archive-date=December 8, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208010313/http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-beersheva-makes-mark-as-israels-hidden-hi-tech-hub-1001085859|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Etymology==
There are several [[etymology|etymologies]] of the name ''Beersheba''. The oath of [[Abraham]] and [[Abimelech]] ('well of the oath') is the one stated in {{bibleverse||Genesis|21:31|HE}}. Others include the seven wells dug by [[Isaac]] ('seven wells') though only three or four have been identified; the oath of [[Isaac]] and Abimelech ('well of the oath' in {{bibleverse||Genesis|26:33|HE}}); the seven lambs that sealed Abraham and Abimelech's oath ('well of the seven').
''Be'er'' is the [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] word for 'well'; ''sheva'' could mean 'seven' or 'oath' (from the Hebrew word {{transl|he|shvu'a}}).
The Arabic toponym can also be translated as 'seven wells' or, as more commonly believed, 'lion's well'.
During Ottoman administration the city was referred as {{lang|ota|بلدية بءرالسبع}} (''Belediye Birüsseb'').
==Hebrew Bible==
Beersheba{{dubious|The biblical site is at Tell Sheva/Tel Be'er Sheva, east of the modern city. Why discuss it here?|date=August 2020}} is mainly dealt with in the [[Hebrew Bible]] in connection with the [[Patriarchs (Bible)|Patriarchs]] [[Abraham]] and [[Isaac]], who both dig a well and close peace treaties with King [[Abimelech]] of [[Gerar]] at the site. Hence it receives its name twice, first after Abraham's dealings with Abimelech ({{Bibleref2|Genesis 21:22-34}}), and again from [[Isaac]] who closes his own covenant with Abimelech of Gerar and whose servants also dig a well there ({{Bibleref2|Genesis 26:23-33}}). The place is thus connected to two of the three [[Wife–sister narratives in the Book of Genesis]].
According to the Hebrew Bible, Beersheba was founded when [[Abraham]] and [[Abimelech]] settled their differences over a well of water and made a covenant (see {{Bibleref2|Genesis 21:22-34}}). Abimelech's men had taken the well from Abraham after he had previously dug it so Abraham brought sheep and cattle to Abimelech to get the well back. He set aside seven lambs to swear that it was he that had dug the well and no one else. Abimelech conceded that the well belonged to Abraham and, in the Bible, Beersheba means "Well of Seven" or "Well of the Oath".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Freedman |first1=David Noel |last2=Myers |first2=Allen C. |title=Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible |publisher=[[William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company|Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.]] |date=2000 }}</ref>
Beersheba is further mentioned in following Bible passages: Isaac built an altar in Beersheba (Genesis 26:23–33). [[Jacob]] had his dream about a stairway to heaven after leaving Beersheba. (Genesis 28:10–15 and 46:1–7). Beersheba was the territory of the [[tribe of Simeon]] and [[Tribe of Judah|Judah]] ([[Book of Joshua|Joshua]] 15:28 and 19:2). The sons of the prophet [[Samuel (Bible)|Samuel]] were judges in Beersheba ([[Books of Samuel|I Samuel]] 8:2). [[Saul]], Israel's first king, built a fort there for his campaign against the [[Amalek]]ites (I Samuel 14:48 and 15:2–9). The prophet [[Elijah]] took refuge in Beersheba when [[Jezebel (Bible)|Jezebel]] ordered him killed ([[Books of Kings|I Kings]] 19:3). The prophet [[Amos (prophet)|Amos]] mentions the city in regard to idolatry ([[Book of Amos|Amos]] 5:5 and 8:14).<ref name="autogenerated1"/> Following the [[Babylonian Empire|Babylonian]] conquest and subsequent [[Babylonian captivity|enslavement]] of many [[Israelites]], the town was abandoned. After the Israelite slaves returned from [[Babylon]], they resettled the town. According to the Hebrew Bible, Beersheba was the southernmost city of the territories settled by Israelites, hence the expression "[[from Dan to Beersheba]]" to describe the whole kingdom.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishmag.com/61mag/beersheva/beersheva.htm |title=Beer Sheva |publisher=Jewishmag.com |access-date=2009-05-05| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090430054858/http://www.jewishmag.com/61mag/beersheva/beersheva.htm| archive-date= April 30, 2009 | url-status= live}}</ref>
[[Zibiah]], the [[:wikt:consort|consort]] of King [[Ahaziah of Judah]] and the mother of King [[Jehoash of Judah]],<ref name="kings">[[2 Kings]] 12:1</ref> was from Beersheba.
==History==
The city has been destroyed and rebuilt many times over the centuries. Unimportant for centuries, Be’er Sheva regained importance under Byzantine rule (in the 4th–7th century), when it was a key point on the Limes Palestinae, a defense line built against the desert tribes; however, it fell to the Arabs in the 7th century and to the Turks in the 16th. It long remained a watering place and small trade centre for the nomadic Bedouin tribes of the Negev, despite Turkish efforts at town planning and development around 1900. Its capture in 1917 by the British opened the way for their conquest of Palestine and Syria. After being taken by Israeli troops in October 1948, Beersheba was rapidly settled by new immigrants and has since developed as the administrative, cultural, and industrial centre of the Negev. It is one of the largest cities in Israel outside of metropolitan Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Haifa.
===Chalcolithic===
Human settlement in the area dates from the [[Chalcolithic|Copper Age]]. The inhabitants lived in caves, crafting metal tools and raising cattle.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vie/Beersheba.html |title=Beersheba |publisher=Jewishvirtuallibrary.org |date=October 21, 1948 |access-date=2013-08-08 |archive-date=June 29, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150629171855/https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vie/Beersheba.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Findings unearthed at [[Tel Sheva]], an [[archaeological site]] east of modern-day Beersheba, suggest the region has been inhabited since the [[4th millennium BC]].<ref>Z. Herzog. Beer-sheba II: The Early [[Iron Age]] Settlements. Institute of Archaeology, [[Tel Aviv University]] and Ramot Publishing Co. Tel Aviv 1984</ref>
===Iron Age Israelite town===
[[File:Tel Be'er Sheva Overview 2007041.JPG|thumb|Tel Sheva archaeological site]]
{{Main|Tel Be'er Sheva}}
[[Tel Be'er Sheva]], an archaeological site containing the ruins of an ancient town believed to have been the Biblical Beersheba, lies a few kilometers east of the modern city. The town dates to the early [[History of ancient Israel and Judah|Israelite period]], around the 10th century BCE. The site was probably chosen due to the abundance of water, as evidenced by the numerous wells in the area. According to the [[Hebrew Bible]], the wells were dug by [[Abraham]] and [[Isaac]] when they arrived there. The streets were laid out in a grid, with separate areas for administrative, commercial, military, and residential use. It is believed to have been the first planned settlement in the region, and is also noteworthy for its elaborate water system; in particular, a huge [[cistern]] carved out of the rock beneath the town.
===Persian period===
During the Persian rule 539 BC–c. 332 BC Beersheba{{dubious|Where, at Tell Sheva/Tel Be'er Sheva, or where the modern city stands?|date=August 2020}} was at the south of [[Yehud Medinata]] autonomous province of the Persian [[Achaemenid Empire]]. During that era the city was rebuilt<ref name="ynetenc">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Be'er Sheva|encyclopedia=[[ynet encyclopedia]]}}</ref> and a citadel had been built.<ref name="openau">{{cite book|title=מכורש עד אלכסנדר: תולדות ישראל בשלטון פרס|work=Open University of Israel|pages=196–198|first=Arial|last=Rapport}}</ref> Archeological finds from between 359 and 338 BC have been made and include pottery and [[Ostracon]].<ref name="openau"/>
===Hellenistic period===
During the [[Hasmonean]] rule, the city{{dubious|Again: hete or at Tell Sheva/Tel Be'er Sheva?|date=August 2020}} did not take importance as it was not mentioned when conquered from [[Edom]] or described in the [[Maccabean Revolt|Hasmonean wars]]{{dubious|In the usual meaning of the terms, the Maccabees and their revolt precede the creation of the autonomous/independent Hasmonean kingdom and its wars. So what was it?|date=December 2019}}.<ref name="ynetenc"/>
===Roman and Byzantine periods===
During [[Roman Empire|Roman]] rule the city{{dubious|Again: where, at Tell Sheva/Tel Be'er Sheva, or here?|date=August 2020}} was in the [[Coele-Syria]] region. During the Roman era and later [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] periods, the town served as a front-line defense against [[Nabatean]] attacks. Around 64-63 BC [[Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus]] made Be'er Sheva the southern part of the [[Judea (Roman province)|Judea]] province, in the following years the city was on the [[Limes (Roman Empire)|limes]] belt, which in this region is attributed to the time of [[Vespasian]],<ref name="limes">"The Origin of the Limes Palaestinae and the Major Phases in its Development", in ''Studien zu den Militärgrenzen Roms'', 1967</ref> The city become center of an [[eparchy]] in around 268.<ref name="limes"/>
Beersheba was described in the [[Madaba Map]] and [[Eusebius of Caesarea]] as a large village with a Roman garrison.<ref>
"The Scripture Gazetteer: A Geographical, Historical, and Statistical Account of the Empires, Kingdoms, Countries, Provinces, Cities, Towns, Villages, Mountains, Valleys, Seas, Lakes, Rivers, &c Mentioned in the Old and New Testaments: Their Ancient History, Natural Productions, and Present State: with an Essay on the Importance and Advantage of the Study of Sacred Geography", volume 1, 1883, p. 308</ref>
===Mamluk period===
In 1483, during the late [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluk]] era, the pilgrim [[Felix Fabri]] noted Beersheba as a city. Fabri also noted that Beersheba marked the southern-most border of "the Holy Land".<ref>Fabri, 1893, pp. [https://archive.org/details/libraryofpalesti02paleuoft/page/489/mode/1up 489], [https://archive.org/details/libraryofpalesti02paleuoft/page/493/mode/1up 493]</ref>
===Ottoman period===
[[File:השוק בבאר-שבע-JNF022332.jpeg|thumb|Beersheba in 1901]]
[[File:EarlyBeersheba2.jpg|thumb|View of Beersheba from the south in 1902.]]
[[File:BersheebaWWI.jpg|thumb|Beersheba, 1917]]
The present-day city was built to serve as an administrative center by the Ottoman administration for the benefit of the Bedouin at the outset of the 20th century and was given the name of ''Bir al-Sabi'' (well of the seven). Until [[World War I]], it was an overwhelmingly Muslim township, with some 1,000 residents.<ref name="Reiter" /> Ben-David and Kressel have argued that the Bedouin traditional market was the cornerstone for the founding of Beersheba as capital of the Negev during this period,<ref name="Kressel_Ben-David_1996">{{cite journal <!--|title=The Bedouin Market: the axis around which Beer Sheva developed in the British Mandatory Period--> |first1=Gideon M. |last1=Kressel |first2=Joseph |last2=Ben-David |title=Nomadic Peoples |year=1996 |url=http://cnp.nonuniv.ox.ac.uk/pdf/NP_journal_back_issues/the_bedouin_market_GM_Kressel_and_J_BenDavid.pdf |format=PDF |publisher=The Commission on Nomadic Peoples of the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Services (IUAES) |journal=Nomadic Peoples |number=39 |pages=3–28}}</ref>{{rp|3}} and Negev Bedouin anthropologist and educationalist, Aref Abu-Rabia, who worked for the [[Ministry of Education (Israel)|Israeli Ministry of Education and Culture]], described it as "the first Bedouin city."<ref name="Abu-Rabia">{{cite book |url= {{Google books |id=kEJKW1IaynwC |page=7 |plainurl=yes}} |first= Aref |last= Abu-Rabia |title= A Bedouin Century: Education and Development among the Negev Tribes in the 20th century |publisher=[[Berghahn Books]] |year= 2001 |access-date=2013-08-08}}</ref>{{rp|ix}}
In June 1899, the Ottoman government ordered the creation of the Beersheba sub-district (''kaza'') of the district (''mutasarrıflık'') of [[Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem|Jerusalem]], with Beersheba to be developed as its capital.<ref name=Avci>{{cite journal |author= Yasemin Avcı |title= The application of Tanzimat in the desert: The Bedouins and the creation of a new town in Southern Palestine (1860–1914) |journal= Middle Eastern Studies |year= 2009 |volume= 45 |issue= 6 |pages= 969–983 |doi= 10.1080/00263200903268728|s2cid= 144397381 }}</ref> Implementation was entrusted to a special bureau of the Ministry of the Interior.<ref name=Avci/> There were multiple reasons for the decision. The British incorporation of [[Sinai Peninsula|Sinai]] into [[Egypt]] led to a need for the Ottomans to consolidate their hold on southern Palestine.<ref name=Avci/> There was also a desire to encourage the Bedouin to become sedentary, with a predicted increase of tranquility and tax revenue.<ref name=Avci/> The first governor (''[[kaymakam]]''), Isma'il Kamal Bey, lived in a tent lent by the local [[sheikh]] until the government house (''Saraya'') was built.<ref name=AbuRabia>{{cite book |author= 'Aref Abu-Rabi'a |title= A Bedouin Century |publisher= Berghahn Books |year= 2001 |pages= 8–10}}</ref> Kamal was replaced by Muhammed Carullah Efendi in 1901, who in turn was replaced by Hamdi Bey in 1903.<ref name=Avci/> The governor in 1908 was promoted to 'adjoint' (''mutassarrıf muavin'') to the governor of the Jerusalem district, which placed him above the other sub-district governors.<ref name=Avci/>
A visitor to Beersheba in May 1900 found only a ruin, a two-storey stone [[Khan (inn)|khan]], and several tents.<ref name=Robinson1901>{{cite journal |author= George L. Robinson |title= The Wells of Beersheba |journal= The Biblical World |volume= 17 |number= 4 |year= 1901 |pages= 247–255 |doi= 10.1086/472788|doi-access= free }}</ref> By the start of 1901 there was a barracks with a small garrison and other buildings.<ref>Palestine Exploration Fund, Quarterly Report for April 1901, p100.</ref> The [[Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungaria]]n-Czech orientalist<ref>[[Ernest Gellner]], ''Anthropology and Politics: Revolutions in the Sacred Grove,'' [[Basil Blackwell]], 1995 pp.212-228.</ref> [[Alois Musil]] noted in August 1902:
: Bir es-Seba grows from day to day; This year, instead of the tents, we found stately houses along a beautiful road from the Sarayah to the bed of the wadi. In the government building a garden has been laid out, and all sorts of trees have been planted which are sure to prosper, for the few shrubs planted two years ago by the steam mill at the south-east end of the road have grown considerably. The lively construction activity is also causing a lively exploitation of the ruins.<ref name=Musil>{{cite book |author= Alois Musil |title= Arabia Petraea |volume= 2 |page= 66 |place= Wien |year= 1908 |publisher= A. Hölder |url= https://archive.org/stream/arabiapetraea00musigoog#page/n81/mode/2up |quote= Bir es-Seba wächst von Tag zu Tag; heuer baut man bereits anstatt der Zelte stattliche Häuser, die eine schöne Straße vom Seräja zum Talbette bilden. Beim Regierungsgebäude hat man einen Garten angelegt und allerlei Bäume gesetzt, welche gewiß gut fortkommen werden, denn die wenigen vor zwei Jahren bei der Dampfmühle am Südostende der Straße gepflanzten Sträucher sind inzwischen stark gewachsen. Die rege Bautätigkeit verursacht auch hier eine rege Ausbeutung des Ruinenfeldes.<!--If your German is better than mine, feel free to adjust the translation.-->}}</ref>
By 1907 there was a large village and military post, with a residence for the ''kaymakam'' and a large mosque.<ref name=Robinson1908>{{cite journal |author= George L. Robinson |title= Beersheba Revisited |journal= The Biblical World |volume= 31 |number= 5 |year= 1908 |pages= 322+327–335 |doi= 10.1086/474045|doi-access= free }}</ref> The population increased from 300 to 800 between 1902 and 1911, and by 1914 there were 1,000 people living in 200 houses.<ref name=Avci/>
A plan for the town in the form of a [[grid plan|grid]] was developed by a Swiss and a German architect and two others.<ref>Abu Rabi'a (loc. cit.) names the other two as Palestinian Arabs [[Nashashibi clan|Sa'id Effendi al-Nashashiby]] and his assistant, Ragheb Effendi al-Nashashiby.{{dubious|Don't know what other tag to use. Is he identical with Raghib al-Nashashibi, for whom there is a WP article?|date=December 2019}} However, Biger (Ottoman Town Planning in Late 19th
and early 20th Century Palestine, 3rd International Geography Symposium, 2013, 23–32) says that they were Turks educated in Germany.</ref><ref>{{cite book |title= Settlement of the Negev, 1900–1960 |chapter= Basis of Beersheba City Planning |author= Gerdos, Yehuda |editor= Na'or, Mordechai |publisher= Yad Yitzhak Ben-Zvi |location=[[Jerusalem]], [[Israel]] |year= 1985 |pages= 167–177 |language= he}}</ref> The grid pattern can be seen today in Beersheba's Old City. Most of the residents at the time were [[Arab]]s from [[Hebron]] and the Gaza area, although [[Jews]] also began settling in the city. Many Bedouin abandoned their nomadic lives and built homes in Beersheba.<ref name="ariel">{{cite encyclopedia |author= Vilnai, Ze'ev |title= Be'er Sheva |encyclopedia= Ariel Encyclopedia |volume= 1|pages= 473–515 |publisher= Sifriyat HaSadeh |location= Tel Aviv, Israel |year= 1969 |language= he}}</ref>
===First World War and British Mandate===
[[File:AN AERIAL VIEW OF BE'ER SHEVA. צילום אויר של באר שבע..jpg|thumb|Beersheba 1938]]
[[File:Turkishrailstation.jpg|thumb|[[Beersheba Turkish Railway Station]]]]
During [[World War I]], the Ottomans built a [[Railway to Beersheba|military railroad]] from the [[Hejaz Railway|Hejaz line]] to Beersheba, inaugurating the station on October 30, 1915.<ref name="cotterell-ch3">{{cite book|title=The Railways of Palestine and Israel|author=Cotterell, Paul|publisher=Tourret Publishing|location=Abingdon, UK|isbn=978-0-905878-04-1|year=1986|chapter=Chapter 3|pages=14–31}}</ref> The celebration was attended by the Ottoman army commander [[Ahmed Djemal|Jamal Pasha]] and other senior government officials. The train line was captured by [[Allies of World War I|Allied forces]] in 1917, towards the end of the war. Today, it forms part of the [[Israel Railways|Israeli railway network]].{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}
Beersheba played an important role in the [[Sinai and Palestine Campaign]] in World War I. The [[Battle of Beersheba (1917)|Battle of Beersheba]] was part of a wider British offensive in aimed at breaking the Turkish defensive line from [[Gaza City|Gaza]] to Beersheba. On October 31, 1917, three months after taking [[Rafah]], [[General Allenby]]'s troops breached the line of Turkish defense between Gaza and Beersheba.<ref>''An Empire in the Holy Land: Historical Geography of the British Administration in Palestine, 1917–1929,'' Gideon Biger, St. Martin's Press, New York, Magnes Press, Jerusalem, 1994, pp. 23–24</ref> Approximately five-hundred soldiers of the [[Australian]] [[4th Light Horse Regiment (Australia)|4th Light Horse Regiment]] and the [[12th Light Horse Regiment (Australia)|12th Light Horse Regiment]] of the 4th [[Australian Light Horse|Light Horse Brigade]], led by [[William Grant (general)|Brigadier General William Grant]], with only horses and bayonets, charged the Turkish trenches, overran them and captured the wells in what has become known as the [[Battle of Beersheba (1917)|Battle of Beersheba]], called the "last successful cavalry charge in British military history."<ref>{{cite web|title=Senate Debates: 60th Anniversary of the State of Israel|url=http://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?id=2008-03-18.279.12|date=March 18, 2008|access-date=September 7, 2015|archive-date=October 18, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018050334/http://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?id=2008-03-18.279.12|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Medlicott|first=Jeanne|title=Beersheba Lighthorse Anzac diorama unveiled in Narooma|url=http://www.naroomanewsonline.com.au/story/3025991/beersheba-lighthorse-diorama-unveiled-in-narooma/|work=Narooma News|date=April 21, 2015|access-date=September 7, 2015|archive-date=August 16, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150816230851/http://www.naroomanewsonline.com.au/story/3025991/beersheba-lighthorse-diorama-unveiled-in-narooma/|url-status=live}}</ref> On the edge of Beersheba's Old City is a [[Commonwealth War Graves Commission]] Cemetery containing the graves of Australian, [[New Zealand]] and British soldiers. The town also contains [[Australian Soldier Park|a memorial park dedicated to them]].
During the [[Mandatory Palestine|Palestine Mandate]], Beersheba was a major administrative center. The British constructed a railway between [[Rafah]] and Beersheba in October 1917; it opened to the public in May 1918, serving the Negev and settlements south of [[Mount Hebron]].<ref>Gideon Biger (1994), ''An Empire in the Holy Land,'' p. 119</ref> In 1928, at the beginning of the tension between the Jews and the Arabs over control of Palestine, and wide-scale rioting which left 133 Jews dead and 339 wounded, many Jews abandoned Beersheba, although some returned occasionally. After an Arab attack on a Jewish bus in 1936, which escalated into the [[1936–39 Arab revolt in Palestine]], the remaining Jews left.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Kark|first1=Ruth|last2=Frantzman|first2=Seth J.|title=The Negev: Land, Settlement, the Bedouin and Ottoman and British Policy 1871–1948|work=British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies|date=April 2012}}</ref>
At the time of the [[1922 census of Palestine]], Beersheba had a population of 2,012 Muslims, 235 Christians, 98 Jews and 11 [[Druze]] (total 2,356).<ref name="Census1922">{{cite book | editor = J. B. Barron | title = Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922 | publisher = Government of Palestine | year = 1923 | chapter = Table V | page = 11}}</ref> At the time of the [[1931 census of Palestine|1931 census]], Beersheba had 545 occupied houses and a population of 2,791 [[Muslim]]s, 152 Christians, 11 Jews and 5 [[Baháʼí Faith|Baháʼí]] (total 2,959).<ref name="Census1931">{{cite book | editor = E. Mills | title = Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas | publisher = Government of Palestine | location = Jerusalem | year = 1932 | page = 7}} ([https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas online] (pdf, 28 MB)</ref> The 1945 village survey conducted by the Palestine Mandate government found 5,360 Muslims, 200 Christians and 10 others (total 5,570).<ref>[[United Nations Conciliation Commission]] for Palestine, [https://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/5FBCED3943293BBD0525656900654AA6 A/AC.25/Com.Tech/7/Add.1] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140720232249/http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/5FBCED3943293BBD0525656900654AA6 |date=July 20, 2014 }} (April 1949)</ref>
[[File:Beersheba 1945.jpg|thumb|Beersheba 1945 1:250,000]]
[[File:Beersheba 1947.jpg|thumb|Beersheba 1947 1:20,000]]
<gallery mode="packed" heights="120">
File:Beersheba from the air.jpg|Beersheba 1948
File:Beersheba i.jpg|Beersheba police station. 1948. Original building Ottoman with British Mandate addition.
File:Beersheba ii.jpg|Beersheba mosque. 1948
File:Beersheva mosque.jpg|A mosque in Be'ersheva photographed during [[Operation Yoav]], 1948
File:Beersheba iv.jpg|Harel Brigade assembling in Beersheba prior to Operation Horev, 25 December 1948
File:Beersheba v.jpg|Nahal Beersheba in flood, 1948
</gallery>
===State of Israel===
====1947-49 war====
{{See also|Battle of Beersheba (1948)}}
[[File:IsraelPhil.jpg|thumb|Israel Philharmonic Orchestra performing in Beersheba, Israel, 1948]]
[[File:Beersheba, Monument to Negev Brigade, Bunker 02.jpg|thumb|Monument to the Negev Brigade, [[Danny Karavan]]]]
[[File:שכונה ב.PNG|thumb|Beersheba in the 1960s]]
In 1947, the [[United Nations Special Committee on Palestine]] (UNSCOP) proposed that Beersheba be included within the Jewish state in their partition plan for Palestine.<ref name=UNSCOP>United Nations Special Committee on Palestine, Report to the General Assembly, September 3, 1947, Volume II, [https://unispal.un.org/unispal.nsf/c17b3a9d4bfb04c985257b28006e4ea6/fb6dd3f0e9535815852572dd006cc607?OpenDocument A/364, Add. 1] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910081252/http://unispal.un.org/unispal.nsf/c17b3a9d4bfb04c985257b28006e4ea6/fb6dd3f0e9535815852572dd006cc607?OpenDocument |date=September 10, 2015 }}. UNGA Resolution 181 (Nov 27, 1947).[https://unispal.un.org/maps/m0103_1b.gif] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170811055524/https://unispal.un.org/maps/m0103_1b.gif |date=August 11, 2017 }}. See boundaries [[:File:UN Palestine Partition Versions 1947.jpg|here]].</ref> However, when the UN's Ad Hoc Committee revised the plan, they moved Beersheva to the Arab state on account of it being primarily Arab.<ref name=UNSCOP/><ref>[[Anita Shapira]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=3HkJCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA239 ''Yigal Allon, Native Son: A Biography,''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124073814/https://books.google.com/books?id=3HkJCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA239 |date=November 24, 2020 }} [[University of Pennsylvania Press]], 2015 {{ISBN|978-0-812-20343-1}} p.239</ref> Egyptian forces had been stationed at Beersheva since May 1948.
It was [[Yigal Allon]] who proposed the conquest of Beersheba,<ref>Shapira, ''Yigal Allon'' p.245</ref> which was approved by Prime Minister [[David Ben-Gurion]]. According to Israeli historian [[Benny Morris]], he ordered the "conquest of Beersheba, occupation of outposts around it, [and] demolition of most of the town."<ref name=Morris467>Morris, Benny. ''The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited'', Cambridge University Press, p. 467.</ref> The objective was to break the Egyptian blockade of Israeli convoys to the Negev. The Egyptian army did not expect an offensive and fled en masse.<ref name="googleil">{{cite book|url={{Google books |id=iogKjVDKRW4C |page=245 |plainurl=yes }} |title=Yigal Allon: Native Son |first=Anita |last=Shapira |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |year=2007 |page=245 |access-date=2013-08-08}}</ref> Israel bombed the town on October 16,<ref name="Abu-Rabia 2" >Alef Abu-Rabia, 'Beersheva,' in Michael Dumper, Bruce E. Stanley (eds.), [https://books.google.com/books?id=3SapTk5iGDkC&pg=PA80 ''Cities of the Middle East and North Africa: A Historical Encyclopedia,''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201016210037/https://books.google.com/books?id=3SapTk5iGDkC&pg=PA80 |date=October 16, 2020 }} [[ABC-CLIO]], 2007 {{ISBN|978-1-576-07919-5}} p.80.</ref> At 4:00 am on October 21, the 8th Brigade's 89th [[battalion]] and the [[Negev Brigade]]'s 7th and 9th battalions moved in, some troops advancing from [[Mishmar HaNegev]] junction, {{convert|20|km|mi}} north of Beersheba, others from the Turkish train station and [[Hatzerim]]. By 9:45, Beersheba was in Israeli hands. Around 120 Egyptian soldiers were taken prisoner. All of the Arab inhabitants who had resisted, were expelled <ref name="Reiter" >Yitzhak Reiter, [https://books.google.com/books?id=nzUlDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA209 ''Contested Holy Places in Israel–Palestine: Sharing and Conflict Resolution,''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201102063649/https://books.google.com/books?id=nzUlDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA209 |date=November 2, 2020 }} [[Taylor & Francis]] 2017 {{ISBN|978-1-351-99885-7}} p.209.</ref> with the remaining Arab civilians, 200 men and 150 women and children, taken to the police fort and, on October 25, the women, children, disabled and elderly were driven by truck to the Gaza border. The Egyptian soldiers were interned in [[POW]] camps. Some men lived in the local mosque and were put to work cleaning but when it was discovered that they were supplying information to the Egyptian army they were also deported.<ref name=Morris467/> The town was subject to large-scale looting by the [[Haganah]], and by December, in one calculation, the total number of Arabs driven out from Beersheva and surrounding areas reached 30,000 with many ending up in [[Jordan]] as refugees.<ref name="Abu-Rabia 2" /><ref>[[Simha Flapan]], [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2536718 ''The Palestinian Exodus of 1948,''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225225059/https://www.jstor.org/stable/2536718 |date=December 25, 2018 }}
[[Journal of Palestine Studies]] Vol. 16, No. 4 (Summer, 1987), pp. 3-26.</ref> Following [[Operation Yoav]], a 10-kilometer radius exclusion zone around Beersheba was enforced into which no Bedouin were allowed.<ref>[[Benny Morris|Morris, Benny]] (1987) ''The birth of the Palestinian refugee problem, 1947–1949''. [[Cambridge University Press]]. {{ISBN|0-521-33028-9}}. p.245.</ref> In response, the [[United Nations Security Council]] passed two resolutions on the 4th and 16 November demanding that Israel withdraw from the area.<ref>Zeev Tzahor, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/260802 'The 1949 Air Clash between the Israeli Air Force and the RAF,'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225225037/https://www.jstor.org/stable/260802 |date=December 25, 2018 }} [[Journal of Contemporary History]] Volume 28, No. 1 (January 1993), pp. 75-101,p.76</ref>
====First four decades====
Following the conclusion of the war, the [[1949 Armistice Agreements]] formally granted Beersheba to Israel. The town was then transformed into an Israeli city with only an exiguous Arab minority.<ref name="Reiter" /> Beersheba was deemed strategically important due to its location with a reliable water supply and at a major crossroads, northwest to Hebron and [[Jerusalem]], east to the [[Dead Sea]] and [[al Karak]], south to [[Aqaba]], west to Gaza and southwest to [[Auja al-Hafir|Al-Auja]] and the border with [[Egypt]].<ref name="googleil"/>
After a few months, the town's war-damaged houses were repaired. As a post-independence wave of Jewish immigration to Israel began, Beersheba experienced a population boom as thousands of immigrants moved in. The city rapidly expanded beyond its core, which became known as the "Old City," as new neighborhoods were built around it, complete with various housing projects such as apartment buildings and houses with auxiliary farms, as well as shopping centers and schools. The Old City was turned into a city center, with shops, restaurants, and government and utility offices. An industrial area and one of the largest cinemas in Israel were also built in the city. By 1956, Beersheba was a booming city of 22,000.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=883&dat=19551007&id=J_JOAAAAIBAJ&pg=3222,5341447|title=The Canadian Jewish Chronicle - Google News Archive Search|access-date=April 1, 2020|archive-date=August 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200827122232/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=883&dat=19551007&id=J_JOAAAAIBAJ&pg=3222,5341447|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19560310&id=9MVaAAAAIBAJ&pg=5992,2911747|title=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Google News Archive Search|access-date=April 1, 2020|archive-date=October 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201009054526/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19560310&id=9MVaAAAAIBAJ&pg=5992,2911747|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1959, during the [[Wadi Salib riots]], riots spread quickly to other parts of the country, including Beersheba.<ref>Jeremy Allouche, ''The Oriental Communities in Israel, 1948-2003'', [http://doczz.fr/doc/96608/the-oriental-communities-in-israel--1948-2003] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171224214338/http://doczz.fr/doc/96608/the-oriental-communities-in-israel--1948-2003 |date=December 24, 2017 }}, p.35]</ref>
[[Soroka Medical Center|Soroka Hospital]] opened its doors in 1960. By 1968, the population had grown to 80,000.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2206&dat=19680227&id=55AyAAAAIBAJ&pg=823,2776659|title=How Sea of Immigrants Tamed the Negev Wilderness}}</ref> The University of the Negev, which would later become Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, was established in 1969. The then [[List of Presidents of Egypt|Egyptian president]] [[Anwar Sadat]] visited Beersheba in 1979. In 1983, its population was more than 110,000. During the [[1990s post-Soviet aliyah]], the city's population greatly increased as many immigrants from the former Soviet Union settled there.
====Urban development in the 21st century====
[[File:מבט על העיר באר שבע, אמצע שנות השמונים.JPG|thumb|left|250px|Beersheba in the mid-1980s]]
As part of its [[Blueprint Negev]] project, the [[Jewish National Fund]] funded major redevelopment projects in Beersheba. One project was the Beersheba River Walk, a {{convert|900|acre|km2|adj=on|abbr=off}} riverfront district with green spaces, hiking trails, a 3,000-seat sports hall, a {{convert|15|acre|adj=on|abbr=off}} boating lake filled with recycled waste water, promenades, restaurants, cafés, galleries, boat rentals, a 12,000-seat amphitheater, playgrounds, and a bridge along the route of the city's [[Mekorot]] water pipes.<ref name=park/> At the official entrance to the river park is the Beit Eshel Park, which consists of a park built around a courtyard with historic remains from the settlement of [[Beit Eshel]].<ref name=blueprint>[http://www.jpost.com/LocalIsrael/AroundIsrael/Article.aspx?id=175455 "Beit Eshel Park, Beersheba"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103222825/http://www.jpost.com/LocalIsrael/AroundIsrael/Article.aspx?id=175455 |date=November 3, 2012 }}, Blueprint Negev</ref>
[[File:Beer Sheva Aerial View.jpg|thumb|250px|Panorama of Beersheba]]
[[File:PipesBridge.jpg|thumb|Pipes Bridge, 2012]]
[[File:Beer Sheba Israel IMG 6789.JPG|thumb|Modern Beersheba]]
Four new shopping malls were also built. Among them is Kanyon Beersheba, a {{convert|115,000|m2|sqft|adj=mid|abbr=off}} ecologically planned mall with pools for collecting rainwater and lighting generated by solar panels on the roof. It will be situated next to an 8,000-meter park with bicycle paths.<ref name=blueprint/><ref>[http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/34834/jewish-national-fund-plants-an-emissary-in-bay-area/ "Jewish National Fund plants an emissary in the Bay area"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811022547/http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/34834/jewish-national-fund-plants-an-emissary-in-bay-area/ |date=August 11, 2011 }}, ''Jweekly.com''</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jnf.org/menu-2/our-work/blueprint-negev/beersheba-river-park.html|title=404 Error|website=www.jnf.org|access-date=May 18, 2019|archive-date=May 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190518115916/https://www.jnf.org/menu-2/our-work/blueprint-negev/beersheba-river-park.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In addition, the first ever farmer's market in Israel was established as an enclosed, circular complex with 400 spaces for vendors surrounded by parks and greenery.<ref name=blueprint/>
A new central bus station was built in the city. The station has a glass-enclosed complex also containing shops and cafés.<ref name=blueprint/>
Some $10.5 million was also invested in renovating Beersheba's Old City, preserving historical buildings and upgrading infrastructure.<ref>[http://www.timesofisrael.com/spending-time-at-the-well/?fb_comment_id=fbc_10150571598805779_20906899_10150576840115779 "Upwelling of Renewal"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018050334/http://www.timesofisrael.com/spending-time-at-the-well/?fb_comment_id=fbc_10150571598805779_20906899_10150576840115779 |date=October 18, 2015 }}, ''Times of Israel''</ref> The Turkish Quarter was also redeveloped with newly cobbled streets, widened sidewalks, and the restoration of Turkish homes into areas for dining and shopping.<ref name=park>{{cite web |url=http://www.jnf.org/work-we-do/blueprint-negev/beer-sheva-river-park.html |title=Jewish National Fund: Be'er Sheva River Park |publisher=Jnf.org |access-date=2013-03-12 |archive-date=June 27, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120627015225/http://www.jnf.org/work-we-do/blueprint-negev/beer-sheva-river-park.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
In 2011, city hall announced plans to turn Beersheba into the "water city" of Israel.<ref>{{cite news |author=רועי צ'יקי ארד 8 July 2011 00:54 עודכן ב: 23:15 |url=http://www.haaretz.co.il/news/education/1.1179790 |title=שיגעון המים של בירת הנגב – חינוך וחברה – הארץ |newspaper=הארץ |publisher=Haaretz.co.il |access-date=2013-03-12 |archive-date=September 13, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110913075745/http://www.haaretz.co.il/news/education/1.1179790 |url-status=live }}</ref> One of the projects, "Beersheva beach," is a 7-[[Dunam#Syria, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey|dunam]] fountain opposite city hall.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4196840,00.html |title=mynet באר שבע – תגידו, צריך חוף ים בבאר שבע? |publisher=Mynet.co.il |date=June 20, 1995 |access-date=2013-03-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170126144258/http://www.mynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4196840,00.html |archive-date=January 26, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nrg.co.il/online/54/ART2/354/966.html?hp=54&cat=873&loc=63 |title=מקומי – באר שבע nrg – ...דרעי עצבני: רב העיר ב"ש יוצא לקרב |publisher=Nrg.co.il |access-date=2013-03-12 |archive-date=April 30, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150430220554/http://www.nrg.co.il/online/54/ART2/354/966.html?hp=54&cat=873&loc=63 |url-status=live }}</ref> Other projects included fountains near the [[Soroka Medical Center]] and in front of the Shamoon College of Engineering.
In the 1990s, as skyscrapers began to appear in Israel, the construction of high-rise buildings began in Beersheba.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/2881/skyscrapers-dotting-tel-aviv-landscape/ |title=Skyscrapers dotting Tel Aviv landscape | j. the Jewish news weekly of Northern California |publisher=Jweekly.com |date=March 29, 1996 |access-date=2013-03-12 |archive-date=October 12, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012062544/http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/2881/skyscrapers-dotting-tel-aviv-landscape |url-status=live }}</ref> Today, downtown Beersheba has been described as a "clean, compact, and somewhat sterile-looking collection of high-rise office and residential towers."<ref>[http://globaltravelerusa.com/mag/beer-sheva-desert-bloom "Beersheba desert bloom"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105032445/http://globaltravelerusa.com/mag/beer-sheva-desert-bloom |date=November 5, 2012 }}, Global Travel</ref> The city's tallest building is Rambam Square 2, a 32-story apartment building.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=rambamsquare2-beersheva-israel |title=Rambam Square 2, Beer Sheva |location=IL / |publisher=Emporis.com |date=July 21, 2003 |access-date=2013-08-08 |archive-date=February 11, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070211012605/http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=rambamsquare2-beersheva-israel |url-status=live }}</ref> Many additional high-rise buildings are planned or are under construction, including skyscrapers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.emporis.com/city/beersheva-israel/all-buildings |title=All buildings | Buildings |publisher=Emporis |date=July 21, 2003 |access-date=2013-03-12 |archive-date=May 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210529125147/https://www.emporis.com/city/100283/beer-sheva-israel |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.emporis.com/building/rambamsquare2-beersheva-israel |title=Rambam Square 2 | Buildings |location=IL / |publisher=Emporis |date=July 21, 2003 |access-date=2013-03-12 |archive-date=October 20, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020072342/http://www.emporis.com/building/rambamsquare2-beersheva-israel |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.emporis.com/city/beersheva-israel/skyscrapers |title=skyscrapers | Buildings |publisher=Emporis |access-date=2013-03-12 |archive-date=May 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210529125148/https://www.emporis.com/city/100283/beer-sheva-israel |url-status=live }}</ref> There are further plans to build luxury residential towers in the city.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4227281,00.html |title=ynet מגדלים בלב המדבר: תנופת הבנייה מגיעה לב"ש – כלכלה |newspaper=Ynet |date=May 12, 2012 |publisher=Ynet.co.il |access-date=2013-03-12 |archive-date=May 23, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130523205850/http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4227281,00.html |url-status=live |last1=קוריאל |first1=אילנה }}</ref>
In December 2012, a plan to build 16,000 new housing units in the Ramot Gimel neighborhood was scrapped in favor of creating a new [[urban forest]], which spans {{convert|1360|acres|0|abbr=on}} and serves as the area's "green lung", as part of the plans to develop a "green band" around the city. The forest includes designated picnic areas, biking trails, and walking trails. According to Mayor [[Ruvik Danilovich]], Beersheba still has an abundance of open, underdeveloped spaces that can be used for urban development.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4316990,00.html |title=Beersheba opts for trees over urban sprawl – Israel Environment, Ynetnews |newspaper=Ynetnews |publisher=Ynetnews.com |date=June 20, 1995 |access-date=2013-03-12 |archive-date=January 2, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130102160432/http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4316990,00.html |url-status=live |last1=Curiel |first1=Ilana }}</ref>
In 2017, a new urban building plan was approved for the city, designed to raise the city's population to 340,000 by 2030. Under the plan, 13,000 more housing units will be built, along with industrial and business developments occupying a total of four million square meters. A second public hospital is also planned.<ref name=globes/> Planning for a [[light rail]] system also began.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.beer-sheva.muni.il/Eng/Lists/List2/DispForm.aspx?ID=165|title=Planning of Be'er-Sheva's New Light Rail Begins|website=City of Beer Sheva|access-date=September 27, 2020|archive-date=October 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181009063659/http://www.beer-sheva.muni.il/Eng//Lists/List2/DispForm.aspx?ID=165|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2019, the construction of a new public hospital, which will be named after [[Shimon Peres]], was approved. The hospital will be a {{convert|345|acre|0|adj=on}} complex that will feature 1,900 beds, commerce, hotel, alternative medicine, and paramedical services, and research centers, with the possibility of apartment units for medical faculty employees, students, and senior housing. It will be linked to the rest of the city by a light rail system.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/new-hospital-approved-for-beersheba-to-enhance-healthcare-to-periphery-609765|title=New hospital approved for Beersheba to enhance healthcare to periphery|website=The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com|access-date=September 27, 2020|archive-date=May 29, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210529125145/https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/new-hospital-approved-for-beersheba-to-enhance-healthcare-to-periphery-609765|url-status=live}}</ref>
====Security incidents in the city====
On October 19, 1998, sixty four people were wounded in a grenade attack.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?did=69085|title=64 פצועים, מהם שניים קשה ושלושה בינוני, בפיגוע בתחנה המרכזית בבאר שבע|date=October 20, 1998|newspaper=Globes|access-date=May 18, 2019|archive-date=May 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502001222/https://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?did=69085|url-status=live|last1=גולן|first1=מאת גדי}}</ref>
On August 31, 2004, sixteen people were killed in [[Beersheba bus bombings|two suicide bombings on commuter buses]] in Beersheba for which [[Hamas]] claimed responsibility. On August 28, 2005, another suicide bomber attacked the central bus station, seriously injuring two security guards and 45 bystanders.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/29/international/middleeast/29mideast.html "Palestinian Bomber Kills Only Himself Near Israeli Bus Station"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518231233/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/29/international/middleeast/29mideast.html |date=May 18, 2013 }}, ''New York Times''</ref> During [[Gaza War (2008–09)|Operation Cast Lead]], which began on December 27, 2008, and lasted until the ceasefire on January 18, 2009, Hamas fired 2,378 rockets (such as [[BM-21 Grad|Grad]] rockets) and mortars, from Gaza into southern Israel, including Beersheba. The [[List of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel|rocket attacks have continued]], but have been only partially effective since the introduction of the [[Iron Dome]] rocket defense system.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART2/300/858.html |title=חדשות – צבא וביטחון nrg – ...כיפת ברזל יירטה שתי רקטות |publisher=Nrg.co.il |date=October 31, 2011 |access-date=2013-03-12 |archive-date=February 3, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120203061623/http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART2/300/858.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4109451,00.html |title=ynet גראד דוחה מחאה? "גם ספטמבר לא יזיז אותנו" – חדשות |newspaper=Ynet |date=August 16, 2011 |publisher=Ynet.co.il |access-date=2013-03-12 |archive-date=May 23, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130523101009/http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4109451,00.html |url-status=live |last1=קוריאל |first1=אילנה }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART2/271/094.html |title=חדשות – צבא וביטחון nrg – ...רקטה התפוצצה בבאר שבע; חיל |publisher=Nrg.co.il |access-date=2013-03-12 |archive-date=April 17, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150417044638/http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART2/271/094.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART2/272/910.html |title=חדשות – צבא וביטחון nrg – ...הרוג ושישה פצועים בפגיעות |publisher=Nrg.co.il |access-date=2013-03-12 |archive-date=April 17, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150417044848/http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART2/272/910.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
In 2010 an Arab attacked and injured two people with an axe.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hageula.com/news/israel/6890.html |title=פיגוע בבאר-שבע: ערבי תקף בגרזן ופצע שניים | שלימות הארץ | חדשות |publisher=Hageula.com |date=June 27, 2011 |access-date= 2013-03-12 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130516073356/http://www.hageula.com/news/israel/6890.html |archive-date= May 16, 2013 |df= mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.walla.co.il/?w=/10/1835762 |title=באר שבע: כוחות גדולים במצוד אחר "התוקף בפטיש" – וואלה! חדשות |date=June 28, 2011 |publisher=News.walla.co.il |access-date=2013-03-12 |archive-date=May 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210529125146/https://news.walla.co.il/item/1835762 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.walla.co.il/?w=/1/1835677 |title=אלמוני תקף שני גברים בפטיש ליד עיריית באר שבע – וואלה! חדשות |date=June 28, 2011 |publisher=News.walla.co.il |access-date=2013-03-12 |archive-date=August 31, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110831205235/http://news.walla.co.il/?w=%2F1%2F1835677 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2012, a Palestinian from [[Jenin]] was stopped before a stabbing attack in a "safe house."<ref>{{cite web |url= http://news.nana10.co.il/Article/?ArticleID=856797 |title= נענע10 – סוכל ניסיון פיגוע בבאר שבע: פלסטיני שתכנן לבצע פיגוע דקירה נעצר בדירת מסתור בעיר – חדשות |publisher= News.nana10.co.il |date= June 17, 2009 |access-date= 2013-03-12 |archive-date= February 4, 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120204000033/http://news.nana10.co.il/Article/?ArticleID=856797 |url-status= live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.mako.co.il/news-military/security/Article-676211d39b7a431017.htm |title= חדשות 2 – סוכל פיגוע דקירה בבאר שבע: מחבל נעצר בדירת מסתור |date= January 4, 2012 |publisher= Mako.co.il |access-date= 2013-03-12 |archive-date= April 18, 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120418064017/http://www.mako.co.il/news-military/security/Article-676211d39b7a431017.htm |url-status= live }}</ref> On October 18, 2015, a lone gunman [[Beersheva bus station shooting|shot and killed]] a soldier guarding the Beersheva bus station before being gunned down by police.<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.timesofisrael.com/terrorists-open-fire-at-beersheba-bus-station-injuring-six/ |title= Terrorist opens fire at Beersheba bus station, kills one, wounds 11 |first1= Adiv |last1= Sterman |first2= Judah Ari |last2= Gross |website= www.timesofisrael.com |access-date= May 18, 2019 |archive-date= May 27, 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190527084009/http://www.timesofisrael.com/terrorists-open-fire-at-beersheba-bus-station-injuring-six/ |url-status= live }}</ref> In September 2016, the [[Shin Bet]] thwarted a [[Palestinian Islamic Jihad]] terror attack at a wedding hall in Beersheba.<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.bicom.org.uk/news/islamic-jihad-terror-attacks-beer-sheva-thwarted/ |title= Islamic Jihad terror attacks in Beer Sheva thwarted |website= BICOM |access-date= January 1, 2018 |archive-date= January 1, 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180101194209/http://www.bicom.org.uk/news/islamic-jihad-terror-attacks-beer-sheva-thwarted/ |url-status= live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url= https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/diplomacy-defense/128137-161020-israeli-security-services-uncover-islamic-jihad-cell-planning-mass-terror-attack |title= i24NEWS |website= www.i24news.tv |access-date= May 18, 2019 |archive-date= May 18, 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190518115912/https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/diplomacy-defense/128137-161020-israeli-security-services-uncover-islamic-jihad-cell-planning-mass-terror-attack |url-status= live }}</ref>
==Emblem of Beersheba==
[[File:Beer_Sheva_COA_stamp_1965.png|thumb|80px|Beersheva emblem on a 1965 stamp]]
Since 1950, Beersheba has changed its municipal emblem several times.
The 1950 emblem, designed by Abraham Khalili, featured a [[tamarix]] tree, a factory and water flowing from a pipeline.<ref name="city_sign">{{Cite web|url=https://www.beer-sheva.muni.il/City/OnTheCity/Pages/CitySymbol.aspx|title=סמל העיר|website=עיריית באר שבע|access-date=May 18, 2019|archive-date=April 26, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190426164134/https://www.beer-sheva.muni.il/City/OnTheCity/Pages/CitySymbol.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1972 the emblem was modernized with the symbolic representation of the [[Twelve Tribes]] and a tower.<ref name="city_sign"/> Words from the Bible are inscribed: Abraham "planted a tamarix tree in Beersheba." (Genesis 21:33) Since 2012, it has incorporated the number seven as part of the city rebranding.
==Geography==
[[File:NahalashanS.jpg|thumb|Dry riverbed in Nahal Ashan park]]
Beersheba is located on the northern edge of the Negev desert {{convert|115|km|mi}} south-east of [[Tel Aviv]] and {{convert|120|km|mi}} south-west of Jerusalem. The city is located on the main route from the center and north of the country to [[Eilat]] in the far south. The Beersheba Valley has been populated for thousands of years, as it has available water, which flows from the Hebron hills in the winter and is stored underground in vast quantities.<ref name="geog">{{cite web|url=http://www.geocities.com/thetropics/harbor/7883/bs-climt.htm |title=The climate of Beer Sheva |access-date=2008-02-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080325061505/http://www.geocities.com/thetropics/harbor/7883/bs-climt.htm |archive-date=March 25, 2008 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> The main river in Beersheba is ''Nahal Beersheva'', a ''[[wadi]]'' that floods in the winter. The Kovshim and Katef streams are other important wadis that pass through the city. Beersheba is surrounded by a number of satellite towns, including [[Omer, Israel|Omer]], [[Lehavim]], and [[Meitar]], and the Bedouin localities of [[Rahat]], [[Tel as-Sabi]], and [[Lakiya]].
Just north west of the city (near Ramot neighborhood ) is a region called Goral hills (heb:גבעות גורל lit: hills of fate), the area has hills with up to {{convert|500|m|ft|abbr=off}} [[above sea level]] and low as {{convert|300|m|ft|abbr=off}} above sea level.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.themarker.com/misc/1.562670|title=כל חייל שניווט פעם בגבעות גורל ישמח לשמוע שאת הג'בלאות החשופות החליפו וילות עם גינות פורחות|first=אמיר|last=טייג|date=March 29, 2010|journal=TheMarker|access-date=June 20, 2016|archive-date=August 6, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160806180205/http://www.themarker.com/misc/1.562670|url-status=live}}</ref> Due to heavy construction the flora unique to the area is endangered.
North east of the city (north to the Neve Menahem neighborhood) there are [[Loess]] plains and dry river bands.
===Climate===
Beersheba has a hot [[desert climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification]] ''BWh'') with [[Mediterranean climate|Mediterranean]] influences. The city has both characteristics of Mediterranean and desert climates. Summers are hot and dry, and winters are mild. Rainfall is highly concentrated in the winter season, even more so than other cities with a similar climate such as [[Almería]] in southern Spain. In summer, the temperatures are high in daytime and nighttime with an average high of {{convert|34.7|°C|°F|sigfig=2}} and an average low of {{convert|21.4|°C|°F|sigfig=2}}. Winters have an average high of {{convert|17.7|°C|°F|sigfig=2}} and average low of {{convert|7.1|°C|°F|sigfig=2}}. Snow is very rare; a snowfall on February 20, 2015, was the first such occurrence in the city since 2000.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4628929,00.html|title=Be'er Sheva rejoices after rare snowfall|newspaper=Ynetnews|date=February 20, 2015|access-date=June 8, 2015|archive-date=July 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180702181240/https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4628929,00.html|url-status=live|last1=Raved|first1=Ahiya}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author1=Christine Hauser |title=Snow falls in Israel's Negev Desert |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/snow-falls-in-israel-s-negev-desert-1.239093 |access-date=24 June 2021 |work=[[The Irish Times]] |date=January 29, 2000}}</ref>
Precipitation in summer is rare, the most rainfalls come in winter between September to May, but the annual amount is low, averaging {{convert|195.1|mm|in|sp=us|1}} per year. Sandstorms, haze and fog are common, especially in winter, as a result of the high humidity.
{{Weather box
|location = Beersheba
|metric first = yes
|single line = yes
|collapsed = yes
|Jan record high C = 31.5
|Feb record high C = 35.2
|Mar record high C = 38.4
|Apr record high C = 43.8
|May record high C = 44.8
|Jun record high C = 46.0
|Jul record high C = 42.0
|Aug record high C = 43.8
|Sep record high C = 44.0
|Oct record high C = 41.7
|Nov record high C = 38.3
|Dec record high C = 32.5
|year record high C =
|Jan avg record high C= 24.6
|Feb avg record high C= 27.3
|Mar avg record high C= 32.0
|Apr avg record high C= 37.5
|May avg record high C= 38.7
|Jun avg record high C= 39.6
|Jul avg record high C= 39.3
|Aug avg record high C= 38.3
|Sep avg record high C= 38.7
|Oct avg record high C= 36.8
|Nov avg record high C= 31.9
|Dec avg record high C= 26.9
|Jan high C = 17.7
|Feb high C = 18.7
|Mar high C = 22.0
|Apr high C = 26.5
|May high C = 30.5
|Jun high C = 33.1
|Jul high C = 34.7
|Aug high C = 34.7
|Sep high C = 32.9
|Oct high C = 29.7
|Nov high C = 25.0
|Dec high C = 20.0
|year high C =
| Jan mean C = 12.4
| Feb mean C = 13.2
| Mar mean C = 15.9
| Apr mean C = 19.7
| May mean C = 23.2
| Jun mean C = 26.1
| Jul mean C = 28.0
| Aug mean C = 28.1
| Sep mean C = 26.2
| Oct mean C = 23.2
| Nov mean C = 18.6
| Dec mean C = 14.4
| year mean C =
|Jan low C = 7.1
|Feb low C = 7.7
|Mar low C = 9.8
|Apr low C = 12.8
|May low C = 16.0
|Jun low C = 19.0
|Jul low C = 21.3
|Aug low C = 21.5
|Sep low C = 19.6
|Oct low C = 16.7
|Nov low C = 12.2
|Dec low C = 8.8
|year low C =
|Jan avg record low C= 2.8
|Feb avg record low C= 4.0
|Mar avg record low C= 5.3
|Apr avg record low C= 7.2
|May avg record low C= 11.1
|Jun avg record low C= 15.4
|Jul avg record low C= 18.4
|Aug avg record low C= 18.4
|Sep avg record low C= 16.0
|Oct avg record low C= 12.4
|Nov avg record low C= 7.5
|Dec avg record low C= 4.8
|Jan record low C = 1.4
|Feb record low C = 0.5
|Mar record low C = 2.4
|Apr record low C = 4
|May record low C = 8
|Jun record low C = 13.6
|Jul record low C = 15.8
|Aug record low C = 15.6
|Sep record low C = 13
|Oct record low C = 10.2
|Nov record low C = 3.4
|Dec record low C = 3
|year record low C = 0.5
|Jan precipitation mm = 48
|Feb precipitation mm = 40
|Mar precipitation mm = 29
|Apr precipitation mm = 9
|May precipitation mm = 3.6
|Jun precipitation mm = 0
|Jul precipitation mm = 0
|Aug precipitation mm = 0
|Sep precipitation mm = 0.5
|Oct precipitation mm = 9
|Nov precipitation mm = 18
|Dec precipitation mm = 38
|year precipitation mm =
|Jan precipitation days = 9
|Feb precipitation days = 8
|Mar precipitation days = 6
|Apr precipitation days = 2
|May precipitation days = 1
|Jun precipitation days = 0
|Jul precipitation days = 0
|Aug precipitation days = 0
|Sep precipitation days = 0.2
|Oct precipitation days = 2
|Nov precipitation days = 4
|Dec precipitation days = 7
|year precipitation days =
|Jan humidity = 50
|Feb humidity = 48
|Mar humidity = 44
|Apr humidity = 35
|May humidity = 34
|Jun humidity = 36
|Jul humidity = 38
|Aug humidity = 41
|Sep humidity = 43
|Oct humidity = 42
|Nov humidity = 42
|Dec humidity = 48
|year humidity =
|source 1 = Israel Meteorological Service<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://ims.gov.il/IMS/CLIMATE/LongTermInfo
|title=Averages and Records for Beersheba (Precipitation, Temperature and Records [Excluding January and June] written in the page) between 1981 and 2000
|publisher=Israel Meteorological Service
|date=August 2011
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100914010915/http://www.ims.gov.il/IMS/CLIMATE/LongTermInfo
|archive-date=September 14, 2010
|df=mdy
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://ims.gov.il/IMS/CLIMATE/TopClimetIsrael|title=Records Data for Israel (Data used only for January and June)|publisher=[[Israel Meteorological Service]]|access-date=May 19, 2010|archive-date=May 7, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180507080609/http://www.ims.gov.il/IMS/CLIMATE/TopClimetIsrael|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ims.gov.il/IMS/CLIMATE/ClimaticAtlas/TempNormals.htm |title=Temperature average |publisher=Israel Meteorological Service |access-date=8 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130618145923/http://www.ims.gov.il/IMS/CLIMATE/ClimaticAtlas/TempNormals.htm |archive-date=June 18, 2013 |df=mdy }}{{in lang|he}}</ref><ref name="Precipitation average">{{cite web
|url=http://www.ims.gov.il/IMS/CLIMATE/ClimaticAtlas/RainNormals.htm
|title=Precipitation average
|access-date=12 July 2011
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110925080227/http://www.ims.gov.il/IMS/CLIMATE/ClimaticAtlas/RainNormals.htm
|archive-date=September 25, 2011
|df=mdy
}}{{in lang|he}}</ref>
|source 2 = Israel Meteorological Service<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ims.gov.il/NR/rdonlyres/163FFF5E-ACA3-403F-91AF-5FFA16ED9297/0/TemperatureStation.pdf |title=הסבר לקובץ ערכי טמפרטורה 2013 |date=2013 |publisher=[[Israel Meteorological Service]] |page=11 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160130063638/http://www.ims.gov.il/NR/rdonlyres/163FFF5E-ACA3-403F-91AF-5FFA16ED9297/0/TemperatureStation.pdf |archive-date=January 30, 2016 }}</ref>
}}
==Demography==
Beersheba is one of the fastest-growing cities in Israel. Though it has a population of about 200,000, the city is larger in area than Tel Aviv, and its urban plan calls for an eventual population of 450,000–500,000.<ref>{{cite web |author=The Blueprint Negev and the Future of Israel |url=http://blogs.jpost.com/content/blueprint-negev-and-future-israel |title=The Blueprint Negev and the Future of Israel | Jerusalem Post – Blogs |publisher=Blogs.jpost.com |date=October 18, 2012 |access-date=2013-03-12 |archive-date=December 30, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121230080056/http://blogs.jpost.com/content/blueprint-negev-and-future-israel |url-status=dead }}</ref> It is planned to have a population of 340,000 by 2030.<ref name=globes>{{Cite news|url=https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-beer-sheva-to-have-340000-population-by-2030-1001199649|title=Beer Sheva to have population of 340,000 by 2030|website=Globes|date=February 8, 2017|access-date=May 18, 2019|archive-date=May 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190518115911/https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-beer-sheva-to-have-340000-population-by-2030-1001199649|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2010, the National Council for Planning and Construction approved a master plan with the goal of increasing the population of Beersheba and its metropolitan area to 1 million by 2020. The population of Beersheba is predominantly Jewish. Jews and others represent 97.3% of the population, of whom Jews are 86.5%. Arabs constitute around 2.69% of city population.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbs.gov.il/en/settlements/Pages/default.aspx?mode=Yeshuv|title = Regional Statistics}}</ref> <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.calcalist.co.il/real_estate/articles/0,7340,L-3412128,00.html |title=תוכנית באר שבע אושרה; המטרה – מיליון תושבים עד שנת 2020 |publisher=Calcalist.co.il |date=June 20, 1995 |access-date=2013-03-26 |archive-date=February 3, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203030548/http://www.calcalist.co.il/real_estate/articles/0,7340,L-3412128,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
The [[Israel Central Bureau of Statistics]] divides the Beersheba metropolitan area into two areas:
{| class="wikitable"
|+Metropolitan rings in the Beersheba metropolitan area<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.cbs.gov.il/reader/shnaton/templ_shnaton_e.html?num_tab=st02_25&CYear=2015 | format=PDF | title=LOCALITIES, POPULATION AND DENSITY PER SQ. KM. BY METROPOLITAN AREA | access-date=2016-07-03 | archive-date=October 12, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161012071948/http://www.cbs.gov.il/reader/shnaton/templ_shnaton_e.html?num_tab=st02_25&CYear=2015 | url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
!rowspan="2"| Metropolitan ring
!rowspan="2"| Localities
!colspan="4"| Population (2014 census)
!rowspan="2"| Population density<br />(per km<sup>2</sup>)
!rowspan="2"| Annual Population<br/>growth rate
|-
! [[Israeli Jews]]
! [[Arab citizens of Israel|Israeli Arabs]]
! Others{{efn| name=note1 | Others includes non-Arab Christians and those not classified by religion.}}
! Total
|-
| Core{{efn| name= note2 |Includes the city of Beersheba.}}
| style="text-align: center" | 1
| style="text-align: right" | 177,200
| style="text-align: right" | 4,400
| style="text-align: right" | 19,500
| style="text-align: right" | 201,100
| style="text-align: right" | 1,711.8
| style="text-align: right" | 0.9%
|-
| Outer Ring{{efn| name= note3 |Includes the cities [[Rahat]] and [[Ofakim]], the [[local council (Israel)|local council]]s [[Lehavim]], [[Omer, Israel|Omer]] and [[Tel as-Sabi|Tel Sheva]], as well as many smaller towns (local councils).}}
| style="text-align: center" | 32
| style="text-align: right" | 35,700
| style="text-align: right" | 124,100
| style="text-align: right" | 500
| style="text-align: right" | 160,300
| style="text-align: right" | 286.4
| style="text-align: right" | 3.0%
|-
| Northern Section
| style="text-align: center" | 12
| style="text-align: right" | 11,700
| style="text-align: right" | 72,100
| style="text-align: right" | 200
| style="text-align: right" | 84,000
| style="text-align: right" | 272.8
| style="text-align: right" | 3.2%
|-
| Eastern Section
| style="text-align: center" | 8
| style="text-align: right" | 14,900
| style="text-align: right" | 52,000
| style="text-align: right" | 200
| style="text-align: right" | 67,100
| style="text-align: right" | 527.8
| style="text-align: right" | 2.7%
|-
| Western Section
| style="text-align: center" | 12
| style="text-align: right" | 9,000
| style="text-align: right" | 0
| style="text-align: right" | 100
| style="text-align: right" | 9,100
| style="text-align: right" | 73.2
| style="text-align: right" | 4.4%
|-
| '''Total'''
| style="text-align: center" | '''65'''
| style="text-align: right" | '''248,500'''
| style="text-align: right" | '''252,600'''
| style="text-align: right" | '''20,500'''
| style="text-align: right" | '''521,600'''
| style="text-align: right" | '''533.6'''
| style="text-align: right" | '''1.8%'''
|}
{{notes}}
==Economy==
[[File:Negev Mall Tower.JPG|thumb|150px|Negev Mall Tower]]
The largest employers in Beersheba are [[Soroka Medical Center]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://hospitals.clalit.co.il/hospitals/soroka/en-us/AboutE/Pages/Homepage.aspx|title=About Soroka University Medical Center|website=hospitals.clalit.co.il|access-date=November 25, 2017|archive-date=November 22, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171122053053/http://hospitals.clalit.co.il/hospitals/soroka/en-us/AboutE/Pages/Homepage.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref> the municipality, [[Israel Defense Forces]] and Ben-Gurion University. A major [[Israel Aerospace Industries]] complex is located in the main industrial zone, north of [[Highway 60 (Israel)|Highway 60]]. Numerous electronics and chemical plants, including [[Teva Pharmaceutical Industries]], are located in and around the city.
Beersheba is emerging as a high-tech center, with an emphasis on cyber security.<ref name=globes2 /> A large high-tech park is being built near the [[Be'er Sheva North Railway Station]].<ref name="autogenerated2"/> [[Deutsche Telekom]], [[Elbit Systems]], [[EMC Corporation|EMC]], [[Lockheed Martin]], [[Ness Technologies]], [[WeWork]] and [[RAD Data Communications]] have already opened facilities there, as has a cyberincubator run by [[Jerusalem Venture Partners]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Bousso|first=Nimrod|title=Desert Storm: Be'er Sheva Rapidly Emerges as Global Cyber Center|url=http://www.haaretz.com/business/.premium-1.653014|work=[[Ha'aretz]]|date=April 24, 2015|access-date=September 10, 2015|archive-date=October 18, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018050334/http://www.haaretz.com/business/.premium-1.653014|url-status=live}}</ref> A [[Science park]] funded by the RASHI-SACTA Foundation, Beersheba Municipality and private donors was completed in 2008.<ref name="autogenerated2">{{cite web |url=http://duns100.dundb.co.il/2007/vp/600143622/index.asp |title=Dun's 100 2007 – Be'er-Sheva Municipality VP |publisher=Duns100.dundb.co.il |access-date=2009-05-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090221004609/http://duns100.dundb.co.il/2007/vp/600143622/index.asp |archive-date=February 21, 2009 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Another high-tech park is located north of the city near [[Omer, Israel|Omer]].
An additional three industrial zones are located on the southeastern side of the city – Makhteshim, Emek Sara and Kiryat Yehudit – and a light industry zone between Kiryat Yehudit and the Old City.
==Local government==
[[File:PikiWiki Israel 10420 court house in beer sheva.jpg|thumb|Beersheba District Court]]
The Beersheba municipality was plagued for many years by an ineffectual leadership, political problems and poor financial planning. Since 2005, attention has been focused on developing parks and infrastructure. A new youth center opened in 2005, and a new cultural centre opened in 2008. In 2006, after many years of financial struggle, the municipality has achieved a balanced budget.<ref>[http://duns100.dundb.co.il/companies/600143622/index.asp Beer-Sheva Municipality] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090221005430/http://duns100.dundb.co.il/companies/600143622/index.asp |date=February 21, 2009 }}, ''Dun's 100,'' 2006</ref>
The official emblem of the municipality of Beersheba depicts an ''eshel'' ([[Tamarix|tamarisk]] tree), the tree planted by Abraham according to Genesis,<ref>Genesis / Bereishit 21:33</ref> and the observation tower connected to the municipality building.
The mayor of Beersheba is [[Ruvik Danilovich]],<ref name="Halon 2020">{{cite web | last=Halon | first=Eytan | title=Beersheba rises as Israel's new tech hub | website=The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com | date=2020-01-11 | url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/beersheba-rises-as-israels-new-tech-hub-613775 | access-date=2020-12-30 | archive-date=January 22, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122182032/https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/beersheba-rises-as-israels-new-tech-hub-613775 | url-status=live }}</ref> who was deputy mayor under [[Yaakov Turner]].<ref name="Cashman 2013">{{cite web | last=Cashman | first=Greer Fay | title=Grapevine: Political successes – and successors | website=The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com | date=2013-11-02 | url=https://www.jpost.com/metro/features/grapevine-political-successes-and-successors-330403 | access-date=2020-12-30 | archive-date=October 7, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201007151844/https://www.jpost.com/metro/features/grapevine-political-successes-and-successors-330403 | url-status=live }}</ref>
{| class="sortable wikitable"
|+ Mayors of Beersheba
!
! Name
! Political party
! Took office
! Left office
! Years in office
|-
|1
|[[David Tuviyahu]]
|[[Mapai]]
|align=center|1950
|align=center|1961
|align=center|11
|-
|2
|[[Ze'ev Zrizi]]
|[[Mapam]]
|align=center|1961
|align=center|1963
|align=center|2
|-
|3
|[[Eliyahu Nawi]]
|Mapai
|align=center|1963
|align=center|1986
|align=center|23
|-
|4
|{{interlanguage link|Moshe Zilberman|he|משה_זילברמן}}
|[[Independent politician|Independent]]
|align=center|1986
|align=center|1989
|align=center|3
|-
|5
|[[Yitzhak Rager]]
|[[Likud]]
|align=center|1989
|align=center|1997
|align=center|8
|-
|6
|{{interlanguage link|David Bunfeld|he|דוד_בונפלד}}
|Likud
|align=center|1997
|align=center|1998
|align=center|1
|-
|7
|[[Yaakov Turner]]
|[[Israeli Labor Party|Labor]]
|align=center|1998
|align=center|2008
|align=center|10
|-
|8
|[[Ruvik Danilovich]]
|Labor, New Way
|align=center|2008
|align=center|{{nbsp}}
|align=center|{{nbsp}}
|}
==Educational institutions==
[[File:Ben Gurion University of the Negev - IsraelMFA 02.jpg|thumb|[[Ben Gurion University of the Negev]]]]
According to [[CBS]], Beersheba has 81 schools and a student population of 33,623: 60 elementary schools with an enrollment of 17,211, and 39 high schools with an enrollment of 16,412. Of Beersheba's 12th graders, 52.7% earned a [[Bagrut]] matriculation certificate in 2001. The city also has several private schools and [[Yeshiva|yeshivot]] that cater to the religious sector.
[[File:PikiWiki Israel 4451 College of Engineering Sammy Shamun.JPG|thumb|Shamoon College of Engineering]]
Beersheba is home to one of Israel's major universities, [[Ben-Gurion University of the Negev]], located on an urban campus in the city (Dalet neighborhood). Other schools in Beersheva are the [[Open University of Israel]], [[Shamoon College of Engineering]] (SCE), [[Kaye Academic College of Education]], Practical Engineering College of Beersheba ({{transl|jeb|Hamikhlala ha technologit shel Be'er sheva}}),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tcb.ac.il/ |title=technical college website |publisher=Tcb.ac.il |access-date=2013-08-08 |archive-date=January 13, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113165518/http://www.tcb.ac.il/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and a campus of the Israeli Air and Space College (''[[Beersheba Tehni School|Techni Be'er sheva]] '')<ref>{{cite web |url=http://techni-bs.iscool.co.il |title=school website |publisher=Techni-bs.iscool.co.il |access-date=2013-08-08 |archive-date=May 5, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190505132958/http://techni-bs.iscool.co.il/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Neighborhoods==
{{Main|Neighborhoods of Beersheba}}
After Israeli independence, Beersheba became a "laboratory" for [[Architecture of Israel|Israeli architecture]].<ref name="haaretz.com">[http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1082108.html Haaretz.com], "Magic Carpet: The Carpet-Style Patio Homes of Be'er Sheva"], ''[[Haaretz]]''</ref> ''Mishol Girit,'' a neighborhood built in the late 1950s, was the first attempt to create an alternative to the standard public housing projects in Israel. ''Hashatiah'' (literally, "the carpet"), also known as {{transl|he|Hashekhuna ledugma}} (the model neighborhood), was hailed by architects around the world.<ref name="haaretz.com"/> Today, Beersheba is divided into seventeen residential neighborhoods in addition to the Old City and Ramot, an umbrella neighborhood of four sub-districts. Many of the neighbourhoods are named after letters of the [[Hebrew alphabet]], which also have numerical value, but descriptive place names have been given to some of the newer neighborhoods.
==Art and cultural institutions==
[[File:PikiWiki Israel 10581 Beer Sheva Cinema keren.jpg|thumb|Keren Cinema, first movie theater in the Negev]]
In 1953, Cinema Keren, the Negev's first movie theater, opened in Beersheba. It was built by the [[Histadrut]] and had seating for 1,200 people.<ref>Be'er-Sheva Tours and Trails, Adi Wolfson and Zeev Zivan, 2017, p.20</ref>
Beersheba is the home base of the Israel Sinfonietta, founded in 1973. Over the years, the Sinfonietta has developed a broad repertoire of symphonic works, concerti for solo instruments and large choral productions, among them [[Handel]]'s ''[[Israel in Egypt]],'' masses by [[Schubert]] and [[Mozart]], [[Rossini]]'s "Stabat Mater" and [[Vivaldi]]'s "Gloria." World-famous artists have appeared as soloists with the Sinfonietta, including [[Pinchas Zukerman]], [[Jean-Pierre Rampal]], [[Shlomo Mintz]], [[Gary Karr]], and [[Paul Tortelier]].<ref>[http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2002/7/Sounds%20from%20the%20South, Sounds from the South] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121009234550/http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2002/7/Sounds%20from%20the%20South |date=October 9, 2012 }}</ref> In the 1970s, a memorial commemorating fallen Israeli soldiers designed by the sculptor [[Dani Karavan|Danny Karavan]] was erected on a hill north-east of the city.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A4499625 |title=h2g2 – Be'er Sheva, Israel – A4499625 |publisher=BBC |access-date=2009-05-05| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090531054720/http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A4499625| archive-date= May 31, 2009 | url-status= live}}</ref> The [[Beersheba Theater]] opened in 1973. The Light Opera Group of the Negev, established in 1980, performs musicals in English every year.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasen/pages/ShArtStEngPE.jhtml?itemNo=957537&contrassID=2&subContrassID=5&title='The%20salons%20of%20the%20South%20'&dyn_server=172.20.5.5 |title=The salons of the South – Haaretz – Israel News |newspaper=Haaretz |date=December 24, 2006 |access-date=2009-05-05 }}{{Dead link|date=August 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
Landmarks in the city include "[[Abraham's well]]", a well dating to at least the 12th century CE (now inside a visitors center), and the old Turkish railway station, now the focus of development plans.<ref>[http://www.jpost.com/Home/Article.aspx?id=175455 "Blueprint for Beersheba"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100924131935/http://www.jpost.com/home/article.aspx?id=175455 |date=September 24, 2010 }}, JPost</ref> The Artists House of the Negev, in a Mandate-era building, showcases artwork connected in some way to the Negev.<ref>[http://www.jpost.com/Travel/AroundIsrael/Article.aspx?id=42954 "Touch and feel the Negev"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210529125146/https://www.jpost.com/Travel/Around-Israel/Touch-and-feel-the-Negev |date=May 29, 2021 }}, JPost</ref>
The [[Negev Museum of Art]] reopened in 2004 in the Ottoman Governor's House, and an art and media center for young people was established in the Old City.
In 2009, a new tourist and [[Visitor center|information center]], Gateway to the Negev, was built.<ref name="Lubliner">{{cite web|last=Lubliner |first=Elan |url=http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1233304840270&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull |title='Gateway' center aims to help the Negev bloom again |series=Around Israel |work=Jerusalem Post |date=February 21, 2009 |access-date=2009-05-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110813132548/http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1233304840270&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull |archive-date=August 13, 2011 }}</ref>
===Great Mosque of Beersheba===
[[File:D283-042.jpg|alt=The Great Mosque of Beersheba in 1948|thumb|The Great Mosque of Beersheba in 1948]]
In 1906, during the [[Ottoman era]], the Great Mosque of Beersheba was built with donations collected from the Bedouin residents in the Negev. It was used actively as a mosque until the city fell to Israeli forces in 1948.<ref name="Al_Akhbar_2014">{{citation |url=http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/22980 |title=In latest attack on Palestinian heritage, Israel reopens museum in old mosque |access-date=January 23, 2015 |date=December 22, 2014 |work=Al Akhbar Newsletter |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170225014213/http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/22980 |archive-date=February 25, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The mosque was used until 1953 as the city's courthouse. From then until the 1990s, when it was closed for renovations, the building housed an archeological museum, which the city intended to turn into the archeological branch of the Negev Museum.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1089841.html |title=Will Be'er Sheva allow Muslims to use city's only mosque? – Haaretz – Israel News |newspaper=Haaretz |access-date=2009-07-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090606135706/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1089841.html| archive-date= June 6, 2009 | url-status= live}}</ref> In 2011, however, the [[Supreme Court of Israel]], sitting as the [[Supreme Court of Israel#High Court of Justice|High Court of Justice]], ordered the property to be turned into a museum of [[Islam]] without reverting to a place of worship.<ref>{{cite news|last=Curiel|first=Ilana|title=Beersheba mosque to become Islam museum|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4086545,00.html|work=[[Yediot Ahronot]]|date=June 24, 2011|access-date=March 18, 2015|archive-date=April 2, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402131209/http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4086545,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Transportation==
{{Main|Transport in Beersheba}}
Beersheba is the central transport hub of southern Israel, served by roads, railways and air. Beersheba is connected to [[Tel Aviv]] via [[Highway 40 (Israel)|Highway 40]], the second longest highway in Israel, which passes to the east of the city and is called the Beersheba bypass because it allows travellers from the north to go to southern locations, avoiding the more congested city center. From west to east, the city is divided by [[Highway 25 (Israel)|Highway 25]], which connects to [[Ashkelon]] and the [[Gaza Strip]] to the northwest, and [[Dimona]] to the east. Finally, Highway 60 connects Beersheba with Jerusalem and the Shoket Junction, and goes through the [[West Bank]]. On the local level, a partial [[Beltway|ring road]] surrounds the city from the north and east, and Road 406 (Rager Blvd.) goes through the city center from north to south.
[[Metrodan Beersheba]], established in 2003, had a fleet of 90 buses and operates 19 lines in the city between 2003 and 2016, most of which depart from the Beersheba Central Bus Station.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://eng.negev-net.org.il/HTMLs/article.aspx?C2004=12553&BSP=12316|title=Transportation in the Negev|publisher=Negev Information Center|access-date=2008-03-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080614091857/http://eng.negev-net.org.il/HTMLs/article.aspx?C2004=12553&BSP=12316|archive-date=June 14, 2008|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref> These lines were formerly operated by the municipality as the 'Be'er Sheva Urban Bus Services'. Inter-city buses to and from Beersheba are operated by [[Egged Bus Cooperative|Egged]], [[Dan BaDarom]] and [[Metropoline]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://metropoline.com/map.asp|title=Map of lines of the Metropoline company|publisher=Metropoline|access-date=2008-11-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081217065744/http://www.metropoline.com/map.asp|archive-date=December 17, 2008|url-status=dead|language=he}}</ref> The intercity bus service was transferred to [[Dan Be'er Sheva]] in 25'th of November 2016 and Metrodan Beersheva had been shut down. With the change to Dan Be'er Sheva the company introduced electronic payment stopping pay at the driver which was common in Beersheba.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.danbr7.co.il/pages/4.aspx|title=תשלום עבור נסיעה - דן באר שבע|website=www.danbr7.co.il|access-date=February 22, 2017|archive-date=February 22, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170222200045/http://www.danbr7.co.il/pages/4.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:PikiWiki Israel 4499 Pedestrian Bridge.JPG|thumb|left|Mexico Bridge from railway station to Ben-Gurion University]]
[[Israel Railways]] operates two stations in the city that form part of the [[railway to Beersheba]]: the old [[Be'er Sheva North Railway Station|Be'er Sheva North University]] station, adjacent to Ben Gurion University and [[Soroka Medical Center]], and the new [[Be'er Sheva Center Railway Station|Be'er Sheva Central]] station, adjacent to the central bus station. Between the two stations, the railway splits into two, and also continues to Dimona and [[Dead Sea|the Dead Sea]] factories. An extension is planned to Eilat<ref name="eilat rail">{{cite news|url=http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3520156,00.html |work=[[Ynet]] |language=he |date=March 17, 2008 |access-date=2008-03-25 |author=Hazelkorn, Shahar |title=Mofaz Decided: A Railway to Eilat Will Be Built |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080321230635/http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0%2C7340%2CL-3520156%2C00.html |archive-date=March 21, 2008 |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[Arad, Israel|Arad]].
The Be'er Sheva North University station is the terminus of the line to Dimona. All stations of Israel Railways can be accessed from Beersheba using [[Interchange station|transfer stations]] in Tel Aviv and [[Lod]]. Until 2012, the [[Railway to Beersheba|railway line to Beersheba]] used a slow single-track configuration with sharp curves and many [[level crossing]]s which limited train speed. Between 2004 and 2012 the line was double tracked and rebuilt using an improved alignment and all its level crossings were [[grade separation|grade separated]]. The rebuilding effort cost [[Israeli new shekel|NIS]] 2.8 billion and significantly reduced the travel time and greatly increased the train frequency to and from Tel Aviv and [[Kiryat Motzkin]] to Beersheba.<ref>{{cite news|last=Bocker|first=Ran|title=From Beersheva to Tel Aviv in 55 Minutes|url=http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4255551,00.html|access-date=July 15, 2012|newspaper=[[Ynet]]|date=July 15, 2012|language=he|archive-date=July 17, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120717175444/http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4255551,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In addition, Beersheba will be linked to Tel Aviv and Eilat by a new passenger and freight [[High speed railway to Eilat|high-speed railway system]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.airrailnews.com/index.php/component/simplelists/item/929 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130410122729/http://www.airrailnews.com/index.php/component/simplelists/item/929 |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 10, 2013 |title=Eilat high speed rail line gets green line |publisher=Airrailnews.com |date=February 14, 2013 |access-date=2013-03-26 }}</ref>
There have been plans for a [[light rail]] system in Beersheba for many years, and a light rail system appears in the master plan for the city.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4055675,00.html |title=mynet באר שבע – רכבת קלה? הצחקתם את הבאר שבעיים |publisher=Mynet.co.il |date=June 20, 1995 |access-date=2013-03-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170126152544/http://www.mynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4055675,00.html |archive-date=January 26, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> An agreement was signed for the construction of a light rail system in 1998, but was not implemented. In 2008, the [[Ministry of Finance (Israel)|Israeli Finance Ministry]] contemplated freezing the [[Tel Aviv Light Rail]] project and building a light rail system in Beersheba instead, but that did not happen. In 2014, mayor [[Ruvik Danilovich]] announced that the light rail system will be built in the city.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?fbdid=137231|title=נחתם ההסכם הסופי לתכנון רכבת קלה בבאר שבע - גלובס|newspaper=Globes|date=January 13, 1998|access-date=August 8, 2016|archive-date=August 15, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160815152154/http://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?fbdid=137231|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bizportal.co.il/realestates/news/article/397165|title="מספיק להגר למרכז - יש כאן דירות בחצי מיליון שקל, והרבה מהן" - Bizportal|access-date=August 12, 2015|archive-date=September 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923191526/http://www.bizportal.co.il/realestates/news/article/397165|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jpost.com/Local-Israel/Tel-Aviv-And-Center/Tel-Aviv-light-rail-project-may-be-stopped-in-its-tracks|title=Tel Aviv light rail project may be stopped in its tracks|access-date=August 12, 2015|archive-date=March 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304082959/http://www.jpost.com/Local-Israel/Tel-Aviv-And-Center/Tel-Aviv-light-rail-project-may-be-stopped-in-its-tracks|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2017, the Ministry of Transport gave the Beersheba municipality approval to proceed with preliminary planning on a light rail system.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.railjournal.com/regions/middle-east/beer-sheva-develops-light-rail-plans/|title=Beer-Sheva develops light rail plans|date=July 11, 2017|access-date=May 18, 2019|archive-date=May 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190518121412/https://www.railjournal.com/regions/middle-east/beer-sheva-develops-light-rail-plans/|url-status=live}}</ref>
===Hiking===
Beersheba is linked to ''Hilvan'' by the [[Abraham Path]].{{Citation needed|date=December 2017}}
==Sports==
[[Hapoel Be'er Sheva F.C.|Hapoel Be'er Sheva]] plays in the [[Israeli Premier League]], the top tier of [[Football in Israel|Israeli football]], having been promoted in the [[2008–09 Liga Leumit|2008–2009]] [[Liga Leumit]] season. The club has won the Israeli championship five times, in 1975, 1976, 2016, 2017 and 2018, as well as the [[Israel State Cup|State Cup]] in 1997 and 2020. Beersheba has two other local clubs, [[Maccabi Be'er Sheva F.C.|Maccabi Be'er Sheva]] (based in [[Neighborhoods of Beersheba#Neve Noy|Neve Noy]]) and [[F.C. Be'er Sheva]] (based in the north of [[Neighborhoods of Beersheba#Dalet|Dalet]]), a continuation of the defunct [[Beitar Avraham Be'er Sheva F.C.|Beitar Avraham Be'er Sheva]]. Hapoel play at the [[Turner Stadium]].
Beersheba has a basketball club, [[Hapoel Be'er Sheva B.C.|Hapoel Be'er Sheva]]. The team plays at The [[Conch Arena]], which seats 3,000.
Beersheba has become Israel's national [[chess]] center; thanks to Soviet immigration, it is home to the largest number of [[Grandmaster (chess)|chess grandmasters]] of any city in the world.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Chess masters set to compete in world blitz championship |first=Eitan |last=Bekerman |newspaper=Haaretz |date=September 4, 2006 |url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/758461.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081011075109/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/758461.html |archive-date=October 11, 2008 }}</ref> The city hosted the [[World Team Chess Championship]] in 2005, and chess is taught in the city's kindergartens.<ref>{{Cite journal |url=http://www.fide.com/component/content/article/9-other/2182-673-world-team-championship-in-beer-sheva-israel |title=World Team Championship in Beer Sheva, Israel |publisher=World Chess Federation |access-date=March 13, 2009 |date=November 1, 2005 |journal= |archive-date=December 4, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101204083206/http://www.fide.com/component/content/article/9-other/2182-673-world-team-championship-in-beer-sheva-israel |url-status=live }}</ref> The Israeli chess team won the silver medal at the [[38th Chess Olympiad|2008 Chess Olympiad]]<ref>{{Cite news |title=Israel takes silver medal at Chess Olympiad |first=Uri |last=Tzahor |newspaper=Ynewnews.com |date=November 26, 2008 |url=http://www.ynet.co.il/english/articles/0,7340,L-3628765,00.html |access-date=November 24, 2010 |archive-date=May 1, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501094812/http://www.ynet.co.il/english/articles/0,7340,L-3628765,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and the bronze at the [[39th Chess Olympiad|2010 Olympiad]]. The chess club was founded in 1973 by Eliyahu Levant, who is still the driving spirit behind it.<ref>{{cite news|work=Jerusalem Post|date=December 12, 2004|author=Gavin Rabinowitz|page=4|title=Beersheba is king of world chess|url=http://highbeam.com/doc/1P1-103365216.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614213930/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-103365216.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 14, 2011|quote=By all accounts it is Levant, 76, who is responsible for chess taking root in these arid surroundings... Klenburg says the club's success is all owed to Levant. "He was the right man at the right time,"}}</ref>
The city has the second largest [[wrestling]] center (AMI wrestling school) in Israel. {{Citation needed|date=April 2009}} The center is run by Leonid Shulman and has approximately 2,000 students, most of whom are from Russian immigrant families since the origins of the club are in the [[Neighborhoods of Beersheba#Nahal Beka|Nahal Beka]] immigrant absorption center. Maccabi Be'er Sheva has a freestyle wrestling team, whilst Hapoel Be'er Sheva has a Greco-Roman wrestling team. In the [[2010 World Wrestling Championships]], AMI students won five medals.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3833478,00.html |title=mynet באר שבע – באר שבע מובילה במאבק על ספורט ההאבקות |publisher=Mynet.co.il |access-date=2013-03-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170806021059/http://www.mynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3833478,00.html |archive-date=August 6, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Cricket is played under the auspices of [[Israel Cricket Association]]. Beersheba is also home to a [[Rugby union|rugby]] team, whose senior and youth squads have won several national titles (including the recent Senior National League 2004–2005 championship).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rugbycity.net/|title=ミニ|access-date=December 31, 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070529235006/http://www.rugbycity.net/|archive-date=May 29, 2007|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Beersheba's tennis center, which opened in 1991, features eight lighted courts, and the Beersheba (Teyman) airfield is used for [[gliding]].
==Environmental awards==
In 2012, the Beersheba "ring trail", a 42-kilometer hiking trail around the city, won third place in the annual environmental competition of the European Travelers Association.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4289338,00.html |title=Beersheba wins EU's green travel award |publisher=Ynetnews.com |date=June 20, 1995 |access-date=2013-08-08 |archive-date=February 1, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130201184546/http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4289338,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Notable people==
[[File:Ilan Ramon, NASA photo portrait in orange suit.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Ilan Ramon]]]]
* [[Orna Banai]] (born 1966), actress, comedian, and entertainer
* [[Elyaniv Barda]] (born 1981), footballer
* [[Zehava Ben]] (born 1968), singer
* [[Avishay Braverman]] (born 1948), professor and politician, president of the [[Ben-Gurion University of the Negev]]
* [[Almog Cohen]] (born 1988), footballer
* [[Ruvik Danilovich]] (born 1971), 8th mayor of Be'er - Sheva
* [[Anat Draigor]] (born 1960), basketball player
* [[Eli Alaluf]] (born 1945), politician
* [[Ronit Elkabetz]] (1964–2016), actress
* [[Velvl Greene]] (1928–2011), Canadian–American–Israeli scientist and academic
* [[Zvika Hadar]] (born 1966), comedian and show host
* [[Boaz Huss]] (born 1959), professor of [[Kabbalah]] at [[Ben-Gurion University of the Negev]]
*[[Ron Kaplan]] (born 1970), Olympic gymnast
* [[Victor Mikhalevski]] (born 1972), chess grandmaster
* [[David Naccache]] (born 1967), cryptologist, professor at France's Ecole normale supérieure
* [[David Newman (political geographer)|David Newman]] (born 1956), professor and Dean of Social Science and Humanities, BGU
* [[Ilan Ramon]] (1954–2003), Israel's first astronaut; died in the [[Space Shuttle Columbia disaster|Columbia disaster]]
* [[Yehudit Ravitz]] (born 1956), singer
*[[Idan Tal]] (born 1975), footballer
* [[Eli Zizov]] (born 1991), footballer
* [[Ze'ev Zrizi]] (1916–2011), second mayor of Beersheba
==Twin towns – sister cities==
{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Israel}}
Beersheba is [[Sister city|twinned]] with:<ref>{{cite web|title=ערים תאומות|url=https://www.beer-sheva.muni.il/City/OnTheCity/foreignRelations/Pages/ArimTeomot.aspx|website=beer-sheva.muni.il|publisher=Beersheba|language=he|access-date=2020-11-09|archive-date=October 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001124936/https://www.beer-sheva.muni.il/City/OnTheCity/foreignRelations/Pages/ArimTeomot.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref>
{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
*{{flagicon|TUR}} [[Adana]], Turkey
*{{flagicon|ETH}} [[Addis Ababa]], Ethiopia
*{{flagicon|ROU}} [[Cluj-Napoca]], Romania
*{{flagicon|FRA}} [[Lyon]], France
*{{flagicon|SRB}} [[Niš]], Serbia
*{{flagicon|GEO}} [[Oni, Georgia|Oni]], Georgia
*{{flagicon|AUS}} [[City of Parramatta|Parramatta]], Australia
*{{flagicon|ARG}} [[La Plata]], Argentina
<!--Rosenheim - twinning ended-->
*{{flagicon|USA}} [[Seattle]], United States
*{{flagicon|CAN}} [[Winnipeg]], Canada
*{{flagicon|GER}} [[Wuppertal]], Germany
*{{flagicon|GER}} [[Munich]], Germany
{{div col end}}
==See also==
*[http://www.beer-sheva.muni.il/Eng/Pages/default.aspx Be'er Sheva Municipal Website]
* [[Battle of Beersheba (1917)|Battle of Beersheba]] (First World War)
* [[Beer Sheva Park (Seattle)|Beer Sheva Park]], [[Seattle]]
* [[:File:BeershevaRegion1940s.jpg|Map of Beersheba and surrounds in the 1940s and 1950s]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
==Bibliography==
*{{cite book|last=Fabri|first=Felix|authorlink=Felix Fabri|year=1893|url=https://archive.org/details/libraryofpalesti02paleuoft |title= Felix Fabri (circa 1480–1483 A.D.) vol II, part II| publisher= [[Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society]]}}
* {{cite journal |last=Thareani-Sussely |first=Yifat |title=The 'Archaeology of the Days of Manasseh' Reconsidered in the Light of Evidence From The Beersheba Valley |journal=Palestine Exploration Quarterly |volume=139 |issue=2 |year=2007 |pages=69–77 |doi=10.1179/003103207x194091|s2cid=161326436 }}
==External links==
{{Commons}}
{{wikivoyage-inline|Beer Sheva}}
* [http://www.beer-sheva.muni.il/ Beersheba City Council]
* [https://www.flickr.com/groups/beer-sheva/ Selection of photos from Beer Sheva] from [[flickr]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080406233300/http://web.bgu.ac.il/Eng/home/ Ben-Gurion University]
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A4499625 The city of Beersheba: a tourist's guide]
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02518a.htm Beer-Sheva] – Historical article from the [[Catholic Encyclopedia|Catholic Encyclopaedia]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080614033657/http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22682910-2702,00.html Light Horse charges again] Article written by Martin Chulov, published in The Australian, November 1, 2007, the descendants of the Australian light-horsemen rode into the centre of Beersheva, re-enacting the gallant gallop of October 31, 1917
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070824023021/http://www.aliciapatterson.org/APF001971/Downie/Downie04/Downie04.html Israel Builds] Expansion and architecture of Beersheva in the 1960s and 1970s
* [http://www.jpost.com/Home/Article.aspx?id=175455 Blueprint for Beersheba]
*{{cite web |last=Goodchild |first=Philip |author2=Talbert, Andrew |title=Beersheba & Abraham |url=http://www.bibledex.com/israel/beersheba.html |work=Bibledex in Israel |year= 2010 |publisher=[[Brady Haran]] for the [[University of Nottingham]]}}
* Tsagai Asamain, [http://www.iaa-conservation.org.il/Projects_Item_eng.asp?subject_id=10&site_id=9&id=71 Be'er Sheva-Compound C:Conservation measures during the excavation], [http://www.antiquities.org.il/home_eng.asp Israel Antiquities Authority Site] – [https://web.archive.org/web/20140626044723/http://iaa-conservation.org.il/index_eng.asp Conservation Department]
* Yardena Etgar and Ofer Cohen, [http://www.iaa-conservation.org.il/Projects_Item_eng.asp?subject_id=10&site_id=9&id=8 Tel Be’er Sheva: The Underground Water Reservoir System], [http://www.antiquities.org.il/home_eng.asp Israel Antiquities Authority Site] – [https://web.archive.org/web/20140626044723/http://iaa-conservation.org.il/index_eng.asp Conservation Department]
* Shauli Sela and Fuad Abu-Taa, [http://www.iaa-conservation.org.il/Projects_Item_eng.asp?subject_id=10&site_id=9&id=25 The Turkish Mosque and the Governor's House: Conservation of the stone and plaster], [http://www.antiquities.org.il/home_eng.asp Israel Antiquities Authority Site] – [https://web.archive.org/web/20140626044723/http://iaa-conservation.org.il/index_eng.asp Conservation Department]
*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 24: [http://www.iaa-archives.org.il/zoom/zoom.aspx?folder_id=93&type_id=6&id=8386 IAA], [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Survey_of_Western_Palestine_1880.24.jpg Wikimedia commons]
*[https://beersheva.city/ BeerSheva.city], the first French portal of the city
{{Beersheba}}
{{South District (Israel)}}
{{Largest Israeli cities}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Beersheba| ]]<!--please leave the empty space as standard-->
[[Category:Cities in Southern District (Israel)]]
[[Category:History of Israel by location|Beersheba]]
[[Category:Chess in Israel]]
[[Category:Hebrew Bible cities]]
[[Category:Torah cities]]
[[Category:Establishments in the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy)]]
[[Category:1900s establishments in Ottoman Syria]]' |
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247 => 'https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/new-hospital-approved-for-beersheba-to-enhance-healthcare-to-periphery-609765',
248 => 'https://www.jpost.com/metro/features/grapevine-political-successes-and-successors-330403',
249 => 'https://www.jstor.org/stable/2536718',
250 => 'https://www.jstor.org/stable/260802',
251 => 'https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/29/international/middleeast/29mideast.html',
252 => 'https://www.railjournal.com/regions/middle-east/beer-sheva-develops-light-rail-plans/',
253 => 'https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q41843#identifiers',
254 => 'https://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n82041200/'
] |
