This article is about the city Holon. For the philosophical concept, see Holon (philosophy).

Holon (Standard Hebrew חוֹלוֹן Ḥolon, Tiberian Hebrew חֹלֹן Ḥōlōn) is a city in Israel, on the central coastal strip, just south of Tel Aviv, and part of the metropolis known as Gush Dan in the Tel Aviv District. It has about 200,000 residents. Holon has the second biggest industrial zone in Israel after Haifa. The city hosts about half of the Samaritan community.

Mayors of Holon since its proclamation as a city in 1950 are:

• Dr. Haim Kugel -- 1950 to 1953
• Pinhas Eylon -- 1953 to 1987
• Haim Sharon -- 1987 to 1988
• Moshe Rom -- 1988 to 1993
• Motti Sasson -- 1993 to ?

Sports

Holon's leading basketball club, Hapoel , returned to the National League (2nd Division) in 2003 after dropping down two leagues in the two preceding seasons, from Ligat HaAl (Superleague) to the State League (3rd Division). However, after leading the league for the better part of the season, Hapoel lost out to Maccabi Petah-Tikva in the 2004 playoffs for promotion.

Holon's leading soccer club, Zafririm , has been roaming between Ligat HaAl (Superleague) and the National League (2nd Division) since 1990. In May 2004 it dropped to HaLiga HaArtzit (3rd Division).

Culture

Holon used to host the annual Storytellers Festival , now held in Givatayim. It also hosts the Yeme Zemer (days of singing) festival annually. Daniel Barenboim organizes an annual music summer camp in the city.

During the term of Moti Sasson as mayor, many civic projects have developed in Holon, including the Holon Children's Museum and the Mediatech, one of the largest public libraries in Israel.

Famous Holonites

• Dana International
• David D'Or
• Lior Narkis

See also

• Holon Academic Institute of Technology
• Samaritans

External links

• Holon official website (Hebrew) (English)
• Holon website (Russian)
• Zafririm Holon soccer club (Hebrew)