Before the 20th century, the site of Magdiel formed part of the Forest of Sharon, a hallmark of the region's historical landscape. It was an open woodland dominated by Mount Tabor Oak (
Quercus ithaburensis), which extended from
Kfar Yona in the north to
Ra'anana in the south. The local Arab inhabitants traditionally used the area for pasture, firewood, and intermittent cultivation. The intensification of settlement and agriculture in the
coastal plain during the 19th century led to
deforestation and subsequent environmental degradation known from
Hebrew sources. Magdiel was established as a
moshava, starting on 4,000
dunams of land purchased near the Arab village of
Biyar 'Adas. The initial population included Jewish immigrants from
Russia,
Poland and
Lithuania, later joined by a group from the
Netherlands. In 1964, four villages – Magdiel, Ramatayim, Hadar, and Ramat Hadar – merged to become Hod Hasharon. The place name is symbolic
Meged El (i.e., the oil of God)" and appears in the
Tanach/Old Testament. Magdiel was the name of an
Edomite clan (possibly the name of an eponymous chieftain) mentioned in
Genesis 36:43. Its invocation of
El may show that that deity was worshipped in Edom, along with
Kaus and others. Magdiel is the location of a
Youth Aliyah boarding school of that name that took in young survivors of the
Holocaust. Other schools there include a comprehensive secondary school and a technical vocational boarding school of the
ORT educational network. File:מגדיאל - פנורמה.-JNF043872.jpeg|Magdiel 1927 File:מגדיאל - פנורמה.-JNF043721.jpeg|Magdiel 1927 File:Biyar 'Adas 1942.jpg|Magdiel 1942 1:20,000 File:Qalqilya 1945.jpg|Magdiel 1945 1:250,000 File:PikiWiki Israel 8656 soldiers of Magdiel 15.5.1948.jpg|Magdiel soldiers during the
1948 Arab–Israeli War ==References==