- published: 26 Feb 2013
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Caesarea (Hebrew: קֵיסָרְיָה; Arabic: قيسارية, Kaysaria; Greek: Καισάρεια) is a town in Israel located mid-way between Tel Aviv and Haifa (45 km), on the Israeli coastal plain near the city of Hadera. Modern Caesarea as of December 2007 has a population of 4,500 people. It is the only Israeli locality managed by a private organization, the Caesarea Development Corporation, and also one of the most populous localities not recognized as a local council. It lies under the jurisdiction of the Hof HaCarmel Regional Council.
The town was built by Herod the Great about 25-13 BCE as the port city Caesarea Maritima. It served as an administrative center of Judaea Province of the Roman Empire, and later the capital of the Byzantine Palaestina Prima province during the classic period. Following the Arab conquest in the 7th century, the city fell into obscurity until Crusader renovation, but was again abandoned after the Mamluk conquest. It was populated in 1884 by Muslim Bosnyak immigrants, making it a small fishing village. In 1940, kibbutz Sdot Yam was established on Jewish lands next to the Bosnyak village. During the Civil War in Mandatory Palestine, the town was abandoned by the Bosnyak residents, and in 1952 a Jewish town of Caesarea established near the ruins of the old city, which were made into the national park of Caesarea Maritima.
Gad Elbaz (in Hebrew גד אלבז) (born August 20, 1980) is an Israeli singer of Sephardic origin. He is best known by his #1 hit; Halayla Zeh Hazman (Tonight Is The Time), and for being the son of mizrahi singer Benny Elbaz.
Elbaz started his singing career at the age of 13. His first duet was with his Grandfather, Yecheskel; who himself was a renowned Mizrahi singer, when they sang Aba, Otcha Ani Ohev (Father, I Love You). At the age of 7, Gad's family became religiously observant. The first and most famous song written by his father, and sung by the two of them after they became observant, was Lo Kashe Lachzor B'Tshuva (It Isn't Hard To Become Observant). The song was an instant hit, and touched the lives of thousands of non-observant Israeli families.
As a child, he recorded four records with his father, and later, five more on his own. He was 16 when he put out his first solo effort called (Light at the End of the Tunnel). In 2005, he released Meanings, which sold close to 100,000 copies in Israel alone. His songs feature catchy tunes, appealing to both the observant crowd as well as the non-observant. In 2006, he released another album named Kimat Shaket כמעת שקט, (Almost Quiet). A new disc called Bein HaTipot, (Between The Drops), was released in 2008 and co-produced by Rudy Perez, who has written several songs for Christina Aguilera. One song already playing on Israeli radio; Olam Shel Yeladim (World For The Children), has become a huge hit.