Israeli cities in this list are the cities in Israel, and Israeli settlements with city status in the occupied West Bank; Jerusalem includes occupied East Jerusalem. The list is based on the current index of the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Within Israel's system of local government, an urban municipality can be granted a city council by the Israeli Interior Ministry when its population exceeds 20,000. The term "city" does not generally refer to local councils or urban agglomerations, even though a defined city often contains only a small portion of an urban area or metropolitan area's population.
Israel has 14 cities with populations over 100,000, including Jerusalem at over 500,000 (including occupied East Jerusalem), and Tel Aviv. In all, there are 76 Israeli municipalities granted "city" status by the Ministry of the Interior. Two more cities are planned: Kasif, a planned city to be built in the Negev, and Harish, originally a small town currently being built into a large city.
The list includes four Israeli settlements in the West Bank, an area outside of sovereign Israeli territory. The United Nations Security Council, the United Nations General Assembly, the International Court of Justice, and the International Committee of the Red Cross refer to it as Occupied Palestinian Territory. The area and population of Jerusalem includes that of East Jerusalem which has been de facto annexed by Israel and incorporated within Jerusalem's municipal borders under the Jerusalem Law. This, however, is not recognized by the international community who regard East Jerusalem as part of the Occupied Palestinian Territory.