A large majority in the Knesset voted Wednesday in favor of a law that would unite the municipalities of Or Akiva and Caesarea. The bill, submitted by MK Eliyahu Gabbai (NU/NRP), was supported by the government as well.
Caesarea is considered one of Israel's poshest communities, if not the most posh. The adjoining municipality of Or Akiva, on the other hand, gets a rating of 5 on the Central Bureau of Statistics socio-economic scale, which goes up to 10. The average salary in Or Akiva was about NIS 4,000 in 2003, at a time when the nationwide average was about 6,000.
Or Akiva is named after Rabbi Akiva, who was tortured and murdered by the Romans in Caesarea in the time of the Bar Kochva Rebellion, around the year 136 CE.