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:''This article is about the modern city of Caesarea in Israel, for the neighbouring archealogical site, see Caesarea Maritima, and other uses, see Caesarea (disambiguation)''

'Caesarea' (, ''Qesarya'', ''Keisarya'') is a modern locality in Israel located close to historical Caesarea Maritima, half way between the cities of Tel Aviv (45km) and Haifa, along the Israeli Mediterranean coastline, near the city of Hadera. The modern town of some 4,200 people is the only locality in Israel which is managed by a private organization (the Caesarea Development Corporation).

Contents

History

Caesarea today

Notable residents

External links

History

The Crusaders built a fortress on the coast in the 12th century CE. In 1884, Muslims from Bosnia built a small fishing village on the ruins of the Crusader city. ^[1]At the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century, Baron Edmond James de Rothschild purchased much of the land around Caesarea.
Following Israel's establishment, the village which was then home to 1,120, was abandoned during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Following the country's independence, the Rothschild family decided to transfer their vast land holdings in the country to the new state. However, when it came to the 35,000 dunams of land which would make up modern Ceasarea, a different agreement was struck regarding the land trasfer than the rest of the family's holdings in Israel. After the land was transferred to the state, it was in turn leased back (for a period of 200 years) to a newly formed charitable foundation. The foundation, in order to fulfill the will of Edmond James de Rothschild, was created to contribute to education, arts and culture, and welfare in Israel. The Caesarea Edmond Benjamin de Rothschild Foundation was formed and run based on the funds generated by the sale of Caesarea land which the Foundation is responsible for maintaining. The Foundation is owned half by the Rothschild Family, and half by the State of Israel.
The Foundation established the Caesarea Edmond Benjamin de Rothschild Development Corporation Ltd. (CDC) in 1952 to act as its operations arm. The Company is transfers all profits from the development of Caesarea to the Foundation, which in turns contributes to organizations that advance higher education and culture across Israel.
Today, the Chairman of the Caesarea Foundation and the CDC is Baron Benjamin de Rothschild, the great grandson the Baron Edmond de Rothschild, who has appointed Avraham Biger to be the deputy chairman position of the Caesarea Foundation and CDC. The current Baron owns a home in the town.
In recent years the Foundation has donated over 100 million shekels to organizations such as the Interdisciplinary Center, in Herzliya, Bezalel Academy, and the Open University, as well as to numerous causes including theaters, museums, and musical ventures actross the country. It is also important to point out that large grants have been donated to the communities neighboring Caesarea, including Or Akiva and the Arab town of Jisr az-Zarqa.

Caesarea today

The Caesarea Edmond Benjamin de Rothschild Development Corporation (called in Hebrew החברה לפיתוח קיסריה אדמונד בנימין דה רוטשילד) is the operational arm of the ''Caesarea Edmond Benjamin de Rothschild Foundation'', which exists "in order to establish a unique settlement, based on the values of quality of life and the environment, beside it a business park for advanced industries, and to develop Qeysarya as a national tourism center.".
Caesarea is the only locality in Israel which is managed by a private organization (the Caesarea Development Corporation) rather than a municipal governmental organization. Besides providing municipal services to the residents of Caesarea it also markets plots for real-estate development in the locality (since it owns most of the undeveloped land there) and owns and manages the nearby business park as well as Caesarea's golf course and country club.
The locality is considered one of the most upscale residential developments in Israel. The current Baron de Rothschild still maintains a home in Caesarea as do many other wealthy individuals and high government as well as some foreign officials.

Notable residents

★ Seventh President of Israel, Ezer Weizman

★ Pop singer Keren Ann

★ Russian-Israeli billionaire Arcadi Gaydamak

External links

★ Caesarea Development Corporation