It was founded in 1878, mainly by Haredi Jews of the Old Yishuv, and became a permanent settlement in 1883 with the financial help of Baron Edmond de Rothschild.

However, Abdülhamid II cancelled the purchase and forbade them from settling there, but they retained the name Petah Tikva as a symbol of their aspirations.

In 1878, the founders of Petah Tikva learned of the availability of land northeast of Jaffa near the village of Mulabes (or Umlabes).

The land was owned by two Christian businessmen from Jaffa, Antoine Bishara Tayan and Selim Qassar, and was worked by some thirty tenant farmers.

[8] In a microhistorical anecdote of Petah Tikva, Yehuda Raab, one of the Hungarian settlers, recalls in his memoirs meeting a Baghdadi Jew, Daud abu Yusuf, who despite appearing as a Bedouin, announced “ana Israʾili,” I am Jewish, and recited the shema by way of proof.

[13] In March 1886, Arab peasants from Yahudiya attacked the Jewish colony, injuring 5, with one dying later, possibly due to aggravation of her preexisting condition.

[18] During the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of World War I, Petah Tikva served as a refugee town for residents of Tel Aviv and Jaffa, following their exile by the Ottoman authorities.

According to the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Petah Tikva had a total population of 3,032: 3,008 Jews, 22 Muslims and 2 Orthodox Christians.

The Auja Concession, which was granted to the Jaffa Electric Company on 1921, specifically referred to the relatively large Jewish settlement of Petah-Tikva.

[24] In the 1930s, the pioneering founders of Kibbutz Yavneh from the Religious Zionist movement immigrated to the British Mandate of Palestine, settling near Petah Tikva on land purchased by a Jewish-owned German company.

Refining the agricultural skills they learned in Germany, these pioneers began in 1941 to build their kibbutz in its intended location in the south of Israel, operating from Petah Tikva as a base.

[26] The city has suffered a series of terror attacks as a result of the ongoing regional conflict, including the bombing of a vegetable market in 1977, and three attacks during the Second Intifada: On May 27, 2002, a suicide bomber blew himself up at a small cafe outside a shopping mall, leaving two dead, including a baby;[27] on December 25, 2003, a suicide bomber blew himself up at a bus stop near the Geha bridge, killing 4 civilians,[28][29][30] and on February 5, 2006, a Palestinian got into a shuttle taxi, pulled out a knife, and began stabbing passengers killing two of them, but a worker from a nearby factory hit him with a log, subduing him.

[31] After the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, several adjoining villages–Amishav and Ein Ganim to the east (named after the biblical village (Joshua 15:34)), Kiryat Matalon to the west, towards Bnei Brak, Kfar Ganim and Mahaneh Yehuda to the south and Kfar Avraham on the north–were merged into the municipal boundaries of Petah Tikva, boosting its population to 22,000.

The industry is divided into three zones—Kiryat Aryeh (named after Arie Shenkar, founder and first president of the Manufacturers Association of Israel and a pioneer in the Israeli textile industry), Kiryat Matalon (named after Moshe Yitzhak Matalon), and Segula, and includes textiles, metalwork, carpentry, plastics, processed foods, tires and other rubber products, and soap.

[33] Numerous high-tech companies and start-ups have moved into the industrial zones of Petah Tikva, which now house the Israeli headquarters for the Oracle Corporation, IBM, Intel, Alcatel-Lucent, ECI Telecom, and GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals.

One of Israel's leading food processing corporations, Osem opened in Petah Tikva in 1976 and has since been joined by the company's administrative offices, distribution center and sauce factory.

[35] Over time, the extensive citrus groves that once ringed Petah Tikva have disappeared as real-estate developers acquired the land for construction projects.

Israel Railways maintains two suburban railroad stations in Segula and Kiryat Aryeh, in the northern part of the city.

The Red Line of the Tel Aviv Light Rail system is split into 2 branches upon entrance to Petah Tikva.

[40] Petah Tikva's history of government goes back to 1880, when the pioneers elected a council of seven members to run the new colony.

Kadima, the political party founded by former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, had its headquarters in Petah Tikva.

[41] Petah Tikva is home to 300 educational institutions from kindergarten through high school, catering to the secular, religious and Haredi populations.

[51] In November–December 2006 and May 2007, a salvage excavation was conducted at Khirbat Mulabbis, east of Moshe Sneh Street in Petah Tikva on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

[52] Petah Tikva is referenced in the Tony Award–winning 2016 musical The Band's Visit as the main plot derives from a mix-up between the city and the fictional town of "Bet Hatikva" in the Negev Desert of southern Israel.