Over the years, the City of Be’er-Sheva has won many national and international prizes in recognition of its numerous accomplishments and exemplary actions. Here are some of our firsts and feats:
As of 2024, Be’er-Sheva has the largest number of single or conjoined ground-floor residential units than the other 6 major cities in Israel (58,898 ground-floor units), comprising 70.1% of all the residential units in the city.
In 2023, Be’er-Sheva can boast about have a number of successful breweries, and offering refreshing beer-tasting tours to personally experience the local brands …
In 2022, Goel Drori opened his unique History of Photography in Israel Museum “ha-Tsalmaniyah,” located in the Old City at 63 ha-Avot St.
In 2022, while the Israel Ministry of the Interior published statistics showing that the number of residences being purchased in Tel Aviv is down by 12%–the demand for and sales of homes in Be’er-Sheva is peaking at the highest point in the last 20 years, showing an increase of 14% since last year’s sales.
In 2022, the Be’er-Sheva Wind Orchestra, conducted by lawyer Micha David, is celebrating 25 years of existence and being the largest wind orchestra in Israel.
The I.D.F.’s Chief-of-Staff Prize for 2021 was awarded to the Southern Region Homefront Command (Be’er-Sheva).
The Transparency International – Corruption Perception Index (CPI) for 2021 ranked Israel in the 59th place among the countries in the world; however, Be’er-Sheva is in the 96th place among the cities of the world. Not bad at all!
Both in 2020 and in 2021, the Be’er-Sheva Municipality was rated in first place in Israel for functioning at 100% in the area of Human Resources, according to the following criteria: the status of the Human Resources Dept., the properness of all the personnel tenders, the use of correct, legal means to recruit new employees to valid positions, the absence of wage irregularities, regular employee evaluations, and proper submission of financial reports.
In September 2021, the special “Park of Dreams” (a sterile rehabilitation area), built especially for children suffering from/and being treated for cancer, was inaugurated and awarded 4 stars for upholding Israeli Regulation 5281 for ‘sustainability‘ according to the Israeli building code–making it the first ‘green’ educational facility to reach that level in Israel. The ‘green’ architectural plans were prepared by Architect Avi Speizman.
In August 2021, the City of Be’er-Sheva was awarded a Mark of Excellence by the World Zionist Organization for its work promoting Jewish emigration to Israel and for the successful absorption of new immigrants in the city.
Also in August 2021, the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev was ranked by the “Emerging Group“ as no. 10 in the World in the field of Computer Sciences (in the list of the top 150 academic institutions that give degrees in Information Science and as no. 2 in Israel). In addition, BGU was ranked no. 21 in the world for online professional training and 26th in the category of online entrepreneurship programs.
In May 2021, the City of Be’er-Sheva was awarded the “Do Justice and Love Charity” Mark of Distinction in the presence of the emeritus head of the Israel Supreme Court (Dalia Dorner) by the Israel State Attorney’s Office, the Office of the President of Israel (Re’uven Rivlin), and the Israel Center for Local Government, in recognition of the municipal investment in the development of voluntary (free) legal services for its local residents.
In March 2021, the City of Be’er-Sheva opened public access to Israel’s largest, man-made lake, covering ca. 5,261 sqm (1,300 acres), at the center of the Negev Desert, filled with recycled sewage and runoff rainwater. This lake site serves as a bird sanctuary and birding observatory, as well as a place offering light boating. Developed by the Be’er-Sheva Municipality and sponsored by the JNF.
In February 2021, Be’er-Sheva became the first city in Israel to open the “Duet Center” – The Israel Center for the Research and Treatment of Preschool Children on the BGU Campus, employing: researchers, therapists, educators and legal experts, currently headed by Prof. Na’amah Atzaba-Poria.
As of July 2020 (and despite the COVID-19 pandemic), Be’er-Sheva is the leading city in Israel, with 92% recycling of product packaging (via the orange containers), as reported by the “Tamir” Recycling Corporation. Over the past 3 decades, Be’er-Sheva has taken the lead by successfully initiating almost all the various types of urban recycling: paper/cardboard; plastic bottles; batteries; non-refundable glass; used clothing; electronic devices, etc., by means of readily accessible neighborhood recycling hubs, with all the different types of recycling bins clustered together [something I personally promoted for over a decade in the Municipal Environmental Protection Committee, as a local ‘green’ activist].
According to “Dun & Bradstreet” (March 2020), the Be’er-Sheva City Council has the highest percentage of women city-council members (37%) of all the large cities in Israel, with 9 of the 12 members being of the feminine persuasion, plus 1 of 4 deputy mayors, as well.
In February 2020, the Be’er-Sheva Municipality was awarded for its “excellence in computer ‘bigdata’ analysis–commercial & demographic IT” in 2019, from among hundreds of projects rated in Israel by the Professional Committee of the online high-tech news portal since 1981: “The People” (known in Hebrew as: “PC People and Computers”) at https://www.pc.co.il/
In July 2019, the Be’er-Sheva Municipality was awarded the “Prize for Transparency in Local Government” by the Israel Ministry of Justice, for granting the general public access to most of the local, city data online via the new multilingual Be’er-Sheva municipal website: https://www.beer-sheva.muni.il/Pages/default.aspx.
The Be’er-Sheva Municipality was cited by the Israel Ministry of the Interior in 2019 for its effective efforts towards the prevention of sexual abuse against women.
In 2021, the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev was ranked by PitchBook Financial Data in the 44th place among the top 50 universities in the world for start-ups founded by its graduates. These 214-plus start-up companies include, for example: Exaware, Moovit, Innoviz Techn ologies, JFrog, Valens, etc.
In 2019, the first beer shop and brewery, Beit ha-Birah (lit., house of beer ) was founded in Be’er-Sheva by Gilad Ne’eman and his friends, and their unique local beer is called “Haluts hadash” (lit., the new pioneer). Beit ha-Birah sells over 160 brands of beer. Located on he-Haluts St. in the Old City. Open Mon .-Thur. 11:00-13:00 and Fridays from 9:00-15:00.
In 2018, Be’er-Sheva leads the major Israeli cities with the highest percentage of women elected and serving on its City Council (33%).
In 2012, the city was awarded the “Design Medal” by the international architecture and design magazine “Domus” in conjunction with: Bezalel’s Dept. of Architecture; the Technion’s Dept. of Urban Planning and Construction; the Israeli Union of Landscape Architects; the Planners Union of Israel; the United Architects’ Association; the Center for Local Government; the Union of Urban Engineers; and the Israel Ministry of Construction and Housing–for the many aesthetic and interesting water features across the city.
It has also been granted a good deal of international acclaim, such as being declared: “one of the 7 cities of the future on Earth” by the T3 Advisors and in Brandeis International School’s first Global Technology Emerging Markets Study.
In fact, the City of Be’er-Sheva was awarded the sum of $500,000 for 2017 and again for 2018 by the Bloomberg Family Foundation(New York, NY)to be used for the promotion of urban renewal, updating infrastructures and cleaning & maintaining public areas.
Special recognition of Be’er-Sheva as the paragon of animal rights & welfare – In 2018, the Israel Knesset’s Animal Rights Coalition chose the City of Be’er-Sheva as the Israeli city best exemplifying animal rights and welfare, and invited Mayor Ruvik Danilovich to speak about the many enacted & functioning pro-animal projects.
Still in 7.2022, and since 2017, the Saban Birth and Maternity Center at the Soroka/University Medical Center continues to break the Israeli national record for annual
deliveries, over 17,150 babies born each year in Be’er-Sheva! That’s between 47-50 babies per day! This includes ca.350 pairs of twins and 6-7 sets of triplets, born in the 25 private birthing suites. The Soroka Medical Center (founded 1959) is the second largest medical center in Israel that serves 60% of the country. Moreover, the Soroka complex is often awarded 5 stars
for beauty in the “Beautiful Hospitals in a Beautiful Israel” Contest; a propos, the staff at Soroka claim that natural beauty is both comforting and has a therapeutic effect.
Also as of 2017, Be’er-Sheva is the foremost leader in engineering studies in Israel, with ca.8,000 engineering students.
Be’er-Sheva also heads the Israeli education charts with 1,470 high-school graduates who majored in social studies (social responsibility, civic action, community involvement), which is 65% of all Be’er-Sheva‘s 2017 high-school graduates–as opposed to the national average of 25% of all the annual graduates.
In 2017, the BGU Dept. of Hotel and Tourism Management became the first Israeli academic department in its field to be ranked by the prestigious, annual “Shanghai Ranking” of the worlds’ universities (in 42nd place).
In 2017 alone, the city received an Israel Culture and Sports Prize; a National Prize for Proper Management; and the Israel Minister of Interior’s Prize for Social Responsibility and Municipal Innovation.
In 2017, a radical, new type of kindergarten called Yonah-Gan was founded by Rivka Mayodovnik-Snir, located in Be’er-Sheva’s “Bet Yonah” Home for the Elderly, in which healthy oldsters mind preschoolers. This was modeled after a British Channel-4 TV program entitled “80 and four.”
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a ‘healthy city’ is one whose government puts health high on its agenda. The goal of the WHO Healthy Cities Network is to help cities develop and promote a comprehensive and systematic policy with special emphasis on the needs of vulnerable groups. In 2008, the City of Be’er-Sheva became a member of this international network.
Be’er-Sheva has successfully integrated new immigrant Jews (religious and secular) from 72 countries of origin (from all the continents), including the last remnants of the Jewish communities of Albania, Iran & Yemen, along with resident Christians, Muslims, Druze, etc. to form an ethnically diverse society–all living comfortably in heterogenous neighborhoods, working together productively, in an international, pluralistic, 
multilingual & multicultural environment. In fact, the International Metropolis Organization paid a special visit to Be’er-Sheva to learn how we did it so successfully.
Be’er-Sheva is an exemplary leader in Israeli voluntarism and civic action, in
which all the volunteer organizations (NPOs) are coordinated by the umbrella organization “Re’em,” situated on the second
floor of “Yad la-Banim” (located near City Hall), Sun.-Thurs. 9:00-12:00. Chairperson: Shoshana Agajany; Acting Director: Alin Haviv, 08-6416619, 054-4214251.
Be’er-Sheva‘s E. Levant Chess Center (founded 1973 by Eliahu Levant, a.k.a. “Mr.
Chess”) is renowned in all the international chess circles for having the second-highest rate of Grand Masters per capita in a city the World (9 and counting, as of 2017)–a longstanding chess superpower. The current director is Ilana David (b.1961-), who is also the Captain of the Israel Women’s Chess Team. The center has players aged 4-90 (in 42 competitive groups)–08-6277431. In 2021, the Be’er-Sheva Chess Club won the Israel National Cup, yet again, for the 30+ time since its establishment, as well as winning the National Chess Championship. In 2020, our Grand Master Nitzan Steinberg (b.1998-, ranked 12th in Israel) took 1st place in two international Internet competitions: 1) in memory of Shahar Arad and 2) “Chess4Solidarity,” together with another of our local Grand Masters, Evgeny Postny (b.1981-). In 2021, at Israel’s 40th Annual National Chess Tournament, the first places were won by Grandmaster Victor Michalevski (b.1972-), ranked #171 in the world, and Grandmaster Yulia Shwaiger (b.1994-), ranked by FIDE since 2017 as an International Master (IM) and a Women’s Grandmaster (WGM); she is the reigning Women’s Champion in Israel from 2018-2021…
Together with Haim Shafir (b.1950-), who created the popular card game
“Taki” in 1983, the “Lunada” Interactive Children’s Museum has, thus far, sponsored the first two (2016 & 2017, hopefully of many), annual National Taki Competitions in Be’er-Sheva.
In 2016, Beershevan choreographer & entrepreneur Liran Mikhaeli initiated, with the support of the City of Be’er-Sheva & the International Fringe Theater, the first “Fringe Dance Competition,” open to all original works by independent Israeli choreographers and dancers. In 2017, the winning dance “Orpheo,“ created by Idan Cohen won the 10,000 NIS Best Fringe Dance Prize; the dance “Eshte’olah” created by Sivan Peled won the 2,000 NIS “Kivunim” Unique Dance Prize; and the Outstanding Dancer Award went to Dana Zekharyah.
“Glidah Be’er-Sheva” (Be’er-Sheva Ice-Cream) is a home-made icecream and frozen-yogurt parlor located on Hadassah St. in the Old City. It was 
founded in 1950 by Polish immigrant Yulia Rotenberg (1912-
2005) and has become yet another symbol of the city, with branches across Be’er-Sheva and Israel. Today second- and third-generation family members (Sharon, Shirah & Itamar Bar) carry on the family business.
In 2006, the Be’er-Sheva factory “Mishkan ha-Tekhelet,” located in the “Emeq Sarah” Industrial Park, produced the largest woolen Jewish prayer-shawl (talit) in the world, 8 x 12 meters (=ca.26 x 39 ft.), to fill an order placed by the Gur Hassidic community in New York. It is officially listed in the 2006 Guinness Book of Records. The factory has a 
Visitors’ Center where one can see how Jewish prayer-shawls are made – 08-6274161.
In 1992, the City of Be’er-Sheva had its “1st Negev Foot Race” in which about 2,000 regional residents of all ages ran from the starting line at the Music Conservatorion lot. Children aged 9-14 ran the 1,200-meter course, while adults ran a 4,500-meter course. The 1st place was won by Elad Kitay from Ashkelon; the women’s 1st place was taken by Etti Yagil, Be’er-Sheva’s champion distance & marathon runner. Group prizes were won by: the Bedouin team from Rahat; the Directoriate of Nahal Beka; the Be’er-Sheva Beytar Soccer Team (coached by Viko Haddad); and the elementary school teams from Ma’ayan, Be’eri & Rambam. This event was sponsored by the municipal departments of Sports, Education, Culture & Community.
The lyrics and music for first Hebrew anthem ever written for the City of Be’er-Sheva, entitled: “Anthem for Be’er-Sheva,” were composed by Emanuel Zamir in 1954 for the Negev‘s first “Harvest Festival.” In 1996, Ethelea (Leah) Katzenell wrote a new Hebrew anthem for metropolitan Be’er-Sheva, entitled: “Anthem for the City of Be’er-Sheva,” that was presented to Mayor Rager’s office (copies available: 050-7498870).
Since “Our future is inspired by our past” – join the Society for the Preservation of Israel Heritage Sites – http://www.shimur.org.il. You are welcome to come to the Be’er-Sheva Office of the Society, now located in the Old City at Mordey ha-Geta’ot 74 and/or call Michal Montal – 054-4606496.
My Beer-Sheva (My Beersheba) 