Zeitan

Zeitan (Hebrew: זיתן) is a moshav in the Central District of Israel.

Located near Lod and the Ben Gurion International Airport, it falls under the jurisdiction of Sdot Dan Regional Council.

[1] During the 18th and 19th centuries the area around Zeitan belonged to the Nahiyeh (sub-district) of Lod that encompassed the area of the present-day city of Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut in the south to the present-day city of El'ad in the north, and from the foothills in the east, through the Lod Valley to the outskirts of Jaffa in the west.

[2] The village was founded on 5 June 1950 by immigrants from Tripoli in Libya who were originally from a small town named Zliten.

There are several theories as to the source of its name; one is that it is an adaption of Zliten; another that it is derived from the Hebrew word for Olive (Zeit), which are grown in the area; whilst a third[3] is that it is taken from the name of one of the Tribe of Benjamin, which lived in the area and is named in 1 Chronicles 7:10; And the sons of Jediael: Bilhan; and the sons of Bilhan: Jeush, and Benjamin, and Ehud, and Chenaanah, and Zeitan, and Tarshish, and Ahishahar.