Nof HaGalil
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 View of Nof HaGalil | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
  Nof HaGalil  Nof HaGalil | |
| Coordinates:32°43′N35°20′E / 32.717°N 35.333°E /32.717; 35.333 | |
| Country |  Israel |
| District | Northern |
| Founded | 1957 |
| City Status | 1974 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Ronen Plot [he] |
| Area | |
• Total | 32,521dunams (32.521 km2; 12.556 sq mi) |
| Population (2023)[1] | |
• Total | 45,587 |
| • Density | 1,401.8/km2 (3,630.6/sq mi) |
| Ethnicity | |
| • Jews | 51.6% |
| • Arabs | 28.7% |
| • Others | 19.7% |
| Name meaning | View of Galilee |
| Website | www |
| ^ From 1957 to 2019 | |
Nof HaGalil[2][a] is a city in theNorthern District ofIsrael with a population of 45,587.[1]
Nof HaGalil was founded in 1957 asNazareth Illit (Hebrew:נָצְרַת עִלִּית,romanized: Natzrat Ilit;Arabic:الناصرة العليا,romanized: An-Nāṣira al-‘ulyā,lit. 'Upper Nazareth'), it was planned as aJewish town overlooking the city ofNazareth and theJezreel Valley.[3] In 1963, it was declared alocal council, and in 1974, it formally gained the status of acity. Following thecollapse of the Soviet Union, the city saw a large influx ofJewish immigrants from the former Soviet republics, which doubled the city's population and made it one of the centers ofRussian Jewish culture in Israel.
Nof Hagalil also has a significantIsraeli Arab community.[4][5][6]
The establishment of Nazareth Illit was conceived in the early 1950s,[7] whendevelopment towns such asKarmiel andBeit She'an were founded. There were economic and security reasons for developing a town in this region, but according to Shimon Landman, director of the Interior Ministry's Department of Minorities, theNazareth municipal elections in 1954, in which the Israel communist partyMaki became the largest faction, were a source of concern.[8]
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A parcel of 1,200dunams of land, about half formerly within the municipal boundaries of Nazareth, was allocated in 1954, relying on a law that permitted expropriations for public purposes. Protests at this action reached theSupreme Court of Israel, which in 1955 accepted (HCJ 30/55) the government's word that the sole purpose of the land was to erect government facilities. However, it had already been decided that only 109 dunams would be used for that purpose and planning for residential neighborhoods continued. The first dwellings were completed in September 1956 and the first residents moved in later that year.[9]
The director of the IDF Planning Department,Yuval Ne'eman, stated that the town would "safeguard the Jewish character of the Galilee as a whole, and... demonstrate state sovereignty to the Arab population more than any other settlement operation." The historian Geremy Forman wrote that Nazareth Illit was meant to "overpower Nazareth numerically, economically, and politically."[10]
Initially the city was referred to as the "Jewish neighborhood" of Nazareth, then asKiryat Natzeret. The nameNazareth Illit (Upper Nazareth) was adopted in 1958. In 1961, Nazareth Illit was recognized as a municipal local council.[11]
In 2019 the city was renamed Nof HaGalil (Hebrew:נוֹף הַגָּלִיל,lit. View of the Galilee).[12][13]
In 2021, seven housing projects were under construction in Nof HaGalil. Construction has begun on theHaifa–Nazareth Light Rail which will pass through Nof HaGalil, with 7 stations planned throughout the city. The development of a large municipal park is nearing completion. It includes a petting zoo, an ecological lake, a planetarium, an astronomical observatory, a skating rink, an extreme zip-line course, a musical park, a botanical garden, and an amphitheater. A new government complex is also under construction and there are plans for the expansion of three commercial centers and a hi-tech park.[14]
According to [reliable sources], although the city's Arab population has increased in recent years, the municipality has not approved the construction of churches, mosques, or public Arabic-speaking schools.[4][5]
According to CBS, in 2014 the ethnic and religious makeup of the city was 64.4%Jewish and other non-Arabs and 21.6%Arab (7.2%Muslim and 14.4%Christian).[15] In the 1990s, Nazareth Illit was the fastest developing city in the country with a growth rate of nearly 70 percent. Newcomers included new immigrants from the former Soviet Union and South America, as well as young couples.[3] In 2012, Arabs accounted for 17 percent of the city's 40,000 residents.[16] In 2022, 51.7% of the population was Jewish, 19.8% was Christian, 12.4% was Muslim and 16.1% was counted as other.[17]
In recent years, the city has seen an influx ofBnei Menashe immigrants. 1,225 Bnei Menashe have now settled there, with 700 arriving in 2021 alone. The mayor,Ronen Plot [he], has been an ardent supporter of the Bnei Menashe community moving into the city.[18][19]
TheStrauss Group chocolate factory in the city's industrial zone employs over 600 workers.[20]
In 2010, the city had 12 elementary schools and two high schools. In 2019, after a successfulschool fundraising, a scientific and ecologicalgreenhouse was set up on a 500 square meters site in theAtzmon elementary school. The students of Atzmon not only grow vegetables and fruits, but also invent new varieties and experiment with the scientific process involved in their development.[21]
A new high school for religious boys opened in 2010 and the Yeshivat Hesder ofMaalot, which combines army service with Torah study, opened a branch there. The city also has a regional engineering college, Nof HaGalil Technology College.[22]
Although Nof Hagalil have four Arabic-speaking privatepreschools, its municipality has refused to open any Arab schools, in order to discourage continued Arab immigration to the city.[23]
Hapoel Nof HaGalil is the city's majorfootball club. The city's other football club,F.C. Nazareth Illit, plays inLiga Gimel.
The city's main football stadium isGreen Stadium. In addition to hosting matches of the city's two football teams, the stadium hosted in the pastIsraeli Premier League matches ofHapoel Acre andBnei Sakhnin whose stadiums did not meetIsraeli Premier League. During2013–14 the stadium also hostedHapoel Afula matches.
The city'sbasketball team, Hapoel Nof HaGalil, plays in theIBA fourth tier,Liga Alef.
The city'stable tennis team, Hapoel Nof HaGalil, plays at the Israeli Table-tennis Premier league. The team won both the championship and the state cup at the 2011–12 season.
Nof HaGalil istwinned with:
San Miguel de Tucumán,Argentina
Leverkusen,Germany
Klagenfurt,Austria
Győr,Hungary
Chernivtsi,UkraineUman,Ukraine
Saint-Étienne,France
Alba Iulia,Romania
Kikinda,Serbia
Birobidzhan,Russia
There are no churches or mosques in Upper Nazareth and there are no schools (other than a neighborhood kindergarten) in which Arabic is the major language
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