The second decade was characterized by consolidation and expansion in all areas. Pesach Lev made way for a new Mayor, Alexander Kamil, who was an engineer by profession. As an engineer, Alexander Kamil saw Lod's future in basing its economy on the aviation industry. Believing that this was Lod's destiny, the Mayor approached Prime Minister Ben-Gurion and requested Government support in turning the city into an aviation city. Government support was not long in coming, and the “Bedek Aircraft Maintenance Facility” became the Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI). The manufacturing plant employed thousands of Lod residents, who were trained by the plant in aviation professions. An aviation school was established next to the plant. The establishment and expansion of the factory required skilled workers, and it was necessary to ask the Jewish Agency’s absorption department to bring new immigrants to the city who could be integrated into this factory and other factories that had been established in the area during that decade.

The population of Lod grew slowly while socially integrating immigrants from various countries.  Some of the settlers of the second decade were long-time residents of the country who had moved from other cities because of their jobs in the aviation industry. With the help of targeted outreach, many women were encouraged to join the industrial plants, which were in need of workers, thereby raising the standard of living.

People who lived in the Western Quarter and the Railway Neighborhood sold their homes to minority families and moved to more spacious housing. As a result of the rise in the standard of living and economic stability, the number of people in need of welfare fell from 40% at the beginning of the decade to 10% at the end.  Tax payments and the reduction in the number of people in need enabled the development of infrastructure and welfare services.

From: Vakar, Ora, 1977, Lod - Historical Geography, published by Goma and the Municipality of Lod - Cherikover.

According to the new master plan, “New Lod” was built, and the city expanded mainly to the south and southeast. The land within Lod that was owned by the Custodian of Absentee Property was transferred to the Israel Land Authority. The buildings in the new neighborhoods consisted of three- to four-story structures, in contrast to the single- and two-story buildings of the past.

The main change in the city's appearance began to take shape with the construction of a new business center that included shops, a movie theater (Orly), a new building for the Lod municipality, and residential buildings adjacent to the center. New cafes opened in the square of the new center, which were nothing like the shabby kiosks of the 1950s. Special emphasis was placed on the construction of public buildings: a health clinic, a Histadrut building, a post office, kindergartens, and the Lod-Ramla comprehensive school was moved to a single building.

The decline of industrial plants and the expansion of construction meant that Lod was almost unaffected by the economic recession that prevailed in the country before the Six-Day War. It is remarkable that the city's development was not affected despite the resignation of Alexander Kamil in 1964 and his replacement by Shraga Shulba, one of the city's veterans. In 1965, Zvi Itzkowitz, who was also one of the city's first residents, was elected mayor.

From: Vakar, Ora, 1977, Lod - Historical Geography, published by Goma and the Lod Municipality - Chrikover.