Netanya , city (1994 pop. 144,900), W central Israel, on the Mediterranean Sea; also spelled Nathania. It is a beach resort and the trade center for agricultural settlements in the region. Diamond cutting and polishing and citrus packing are the chief industries. Netanya, founded in 1929, was named for the U.S. philanthropist Nathan Straus, who contributed funds to educational and social agencies in Palestine. The Jewish Legion Museum in Netanya has exhibits of Jewish units in the British army in World War I. Wingate Institute for Physical Education and Zichron Ya'akov, one of the first modern Jewish settlements (1882) in Palestine and the site of the grave of Baron Edmond de Rothschild, are nearby.