Friday night is how Jonathan Gellis explains the appeal of Ir Yamim. In his filmed interview for JBN, the Seaview Israel founder describes a Carlebach-style minyan, followed by neighbors visiting one another’s homes for Shabbat meals. For a family considering a home in Israel, it is a revealing detail: an apartment search is also a search for people.

Ir Yamim sits along southern Netanya’s Mediterranean coast, beside Ramat Poleg. Its apartment towers dominate the skyline, but the spaces between them deserve attention. This installment of JBN’s Found in Israel series explores the neighborhood beyond the balcony view, from its beach paths and shops to the community taking shape around them.

Life Between the Beach and the Plaza

Piano, the open-air shopping and dining plaza, offers a useful starting point. Its shape was a deliberate choice: developer Briga says it replaced plans for a four-story rectangular commercial building with a broad, circular courtyard. Shops and restaurants face a shared outdoor space, giving the neighborhood somewhere to gather outside its residential buildings.

Ir Yamim Mall provides another shopping destination. The municipal Piano park adds children’s play equipment, lawns and shade. Together, these places offer the ingredients of an ordinary afternoon: an errand, a coffee stop and somewhere for children to play.

There is substance behind the neighborhood’s appeal to walkers, too. The municipality’s Blue Axis runs from Ben-Gurion Boulevard through Ir Yamim toward Poleg Beach, designed for walking and cycling without crossing roads along the corridor. The Green Axis connects Ramat Poleg with the Iris Nature Reserve. That does not make every destination a short walk from every apartment, but it gives residents alternatives to getting into a car.

People in JBN’s films describe the attraction in personal terms. A Netanya-born interviewee discusses the city’s welcome to newcomers, including English speakers. Other interviewees talk about relatives buying or moving nearby and their affection for the beach. The appeal they describe combines the setting with the possibility of having family and familiar faces close by.

Tefilat Yamim offers a more concrete introduction to communal life. Serving Ir Yamim, Poleg and surrounding areas, the congregation publishes information in English and explicitly makes welcoming new immigrants part of its mission. Its published programs include Friday-night services, children’s activities on Shabbat, kiddush and community Torah learning. A visit can help a prospective resident picture a week here, not just a vacation.

New homes are also part of Ir Yamim’s next chapter. In its report for the quarter ending June 2026, developer Y.H. Damri listed the neighborhood’s first YAMA building as completed and a second, 68-apartment building as under construction.

Exploring a Home at Sea You

Sea You is one example of the housing being marketed in this setting. Its developer, Yahalomit Peretz, presents five-room apartments and loft-penthouse designs. Project and sales materials advertise a pool, spa and gym; buyers should confirm which facilities are included, when they will be delivered and whether they are operating.

For a family exploring Sea You, the useful conversation is about the particular apartment: room arrangements, space for guests and Shabbat meals, and the balcony. The Found in Israel feature page brings the films and property information together. Before choosing a home, request a current floor plan, specifications, availability and handover terms for the particular unit. That is the information needed to judge whether an apartment fits the life a family wants to build here.

Explore the neighborhood films, Sea You interiors and inquiry options on JBN’s Found in Israel feature page. Leave time to walk the beach route, stop at Piano and speak with people who already live there.