Ramat Ef'al is a neighborhood of Ramat Gan in central Israel. Previously part of Ef'al Regional Council, in 2007 it was transferred to the municipality of Ramat Gan together with Kfar Azar.
History
Ef'al was originally planned to be an urban kibbutz, but due to high land prices, it was established on 250 dunams of land purchased by the Jewish National Fund near Kfar Azar. It was the site of one of the first battles of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The first residents arrived in May 1947. On 4 December 1947, the kibbutz was attacked by 120 to 150 attackers from the village of Salame. Defenders, including some Palmach members, fought off the attackers. After the 1948 Arab–Israeli War the kibbutz gained another 1,000 dunams. Despite the favourable economic situation of the kibbutz, tensions between members working in agriculture and those who worked in the city grew. The split in the HaKibbutz HaMeuhad movement was a further blow to the kibbutz, and departing residents left it weakened. In 1952 it was decided to dissolve the kibbutz. Following its dissolution, it was proposed that a settlement for 400 immigrants from the United States would be built on the land. However, they failed to arrive and instead it was converted into a neighborhood. During the First Intifada, In 1992, Following a high-speed chase, three would-be Hamas suicide bombers were arrested by police forces in Ramat Ef'al. When police inspected their car, they found it rigged with a bomb. During subsequent interrogation of the three arrested suspects, Israeli security forces learned the name of the bomb planner - Yahya Ayyash, also known as The Engineer. This was the first known bomb Ayyash made and it had many similarities to his other works.
Neighborhood
Ramat Ef'al consists mostly of upscale residential houses. The neighborhood also consists of some shops, a few public parks, a community sports center, an elementary school, a few kindergartens, and the well-known Seminar Ef'al. The Tabenkin Memorial lies within the confines of Ramat Efal, in memory of Yosef Tabenkin and the exploits of the Harel Brigade during Israel's War of Independence.
Economy
The economy of Ramat Ef'al is dominated by a trio of food establishments including a supermarket, a café, and a pizzeria. There is also a convenient store, a small toy/gambling store, a post office, a bank, and a barber shop. Due to Ramat Ef'al's relatively small amount of shops, many residents outsource their spending to other nearby cities, most notably Tel-Aviv and Ramat Gan.
