I grew up in LA, so driving is part of my DNA. Now that I live here in Israel, I am blessed to be able to work on homes all over the country and get to know many different communities from the inside. My favorite by far, is the laid back beach town just a few kilometers from Gaza: Ashkelon.
If you’d told most people five years ago that Ashkelon was quietly becoming a destination for English speakers buying second homes in Israel, you would have gotten some very skeptical looks.
The very same Ashkelon that spent years on the receiving end of rocket fire from Gaza. The same town that many of us have never even been to.
And yet, here we are. Americans who visit Israel regularly, Jerusalem-based families looking for somewhere to escape on weekends buying a weekend beach house, Jewish families from abroad who want a foothold in the country without relocating: all buying in Ashkelon. And they are all excited about it, the unknown, the less predictable choice. There’s something different about the people choosing Ashkelon, and the Anglo community there is so special.
Why Not Netanya?
Netanya, Herzliya, Tel Aviv: these are the names that come up when English speakers start talking about property on the Israeli coast. These towns have the gorgeous Mediterranean coastline, the infrastructure, the name recognition. If you’re looking for a second home, any one of them checks a lot of boxes.
So… why Ashkelon?
Recent Renovation Project in Ashkelon (Photo by Elad Gonen)
The price is part of it, obviously. You can get significantly more square meters for your money in Ashkelon than anywhere along the more established stretches of coast. The budget that gets you a modest apartment in Herzliya will get you a more spacious home in Ashkelon. But I don’t think that’s the reason for the fast growth in the Ashkelon Anglo community. The choice is much deeper than numbers.
The Ideological Pull of the South
There’s a certain type of English speaker buying property in Israel right now who want their investment to mean something. They feel an unexplainable connection to this specific part of the country.
The south of Israel carries an undeniable weight of endless tension carried over the years, and especially since October 7th, the emotional and ideological gravity of the south has intensified for many Jews all over the world.
Underneath the years of rockets from Gaza that Ashkelon has absorbed, it has extraordinary historical depth. I am sure that for American Jews buying property in Israel, Ashkelon isn’t just a cheaper Netanya. It is a meaningful place that people are proud to invest in.
What This Means for Construction (My World)
As a designer working with English-speaking clients across Israel, the Ashkelon trend has given me some of my most interesting projects, and some of my most excited clients.
There are so many options of properties in Ashkelon, and they are all interesting to work with.
New Construction in Ashkelon (Photo by Ariella Weiss)
If you buy an older apartment, you’re typically getting generous square footage and coastal city natural light. You get to start fresh and make the home exactly what you want. And because you bought smart on price, you have real budget left over to renovate an old apartment into your dream home.
New builds are a different kind of opportunity. There are new developments popping up all over the city, and buying into a new project means you get a clean slate with modern infrastructure from day one. The key is knowing how to navigate the (very complicated) process. That’s where having someone in your corner with just enough hutzpah makes a real difference.
The Search for Meaning
A true story about a family I worked with on their beach house in Ashkelon (and who have since become like family to me).
They were based in the US, coming back and forth to Israel, preparing themselves for missiles every time they got to Ashkelon, and hanging out on the boardwalk grabbing coffee by the marina. On one of their trips, discussing October 7th and the Gaza border, one of them said something like, “I don’t feel comfortable touring the Gaza border towns. October 7th doesn’t really belong to us. We were in New York when it happened. We’re just Americans.”
So I drove them down to tour the Otef Aza communities. To prove him wrong. Israel is his just as much as the locals and seeing what happened on October 7 is mandatory for every human on this planet.
It was a beautiful and heavy tour of the area, Sderot, Nova, Shuva and more.
Touring the South (Photo by Ariella Weiss)
I finally said: you have property in Ashkelon. You are Jewish. You chose to put your money, your name, your family’s future into this country, not just the easy parts, not just the pretty parts. October 7th is yours too. The south is yours. The grief is yours. The rebuilding is yours.
That exchange has stayed with me because it gets at something I see again and again with Ashkelon clients specifically. Buying a second home or an investment property anywhere is a financial decision. But buying in Ashkelon, for the people actually doing it, tends to be something more. It’s a statement about where they stand. And the renovation that follows from that kind of intention is always the most rewarding work. These clients don’t just want a nice apartment. They want a place that reflects who they are and what they care about, in a city they chose for reasons that go beyond the price per square meter.
Ashkelon Is Not for Everyone, and That’s the Point
If you want a second home in a city with a deep bench of Anglo-facing services, a well-worn expat social scene, and a name your friends back home will immediately recognize, Ashkelon probably isn’t your first call. There are cities along the coast that will give you all of that.
But if you want a beach property that offers real space, real renovation potential, and a location that means something to you beyond just proximity to the water, Ashkelon is worth a serious look.
The city is growing. The investment case is getting stronger. And the clients finding their way to Ashkelon are some of the most interesting, purposeful people I’ve had the pleasure of working with.
Ashkelon found them. And it turns out, that was exactly what they were looking for.
Ari is the founder of Living by Ari, an interior design and architecture studio based in Israel. A Los Angeles native who made Aliyah at 18, she brings a unique blend of American perspective and Israeli spirit to her work. Ari designs residential and commercial spaces across the country, guiding projects from concept to completion with creativity, intuition, unafraid to challenge convention.