Upper Nazareth
Nazareth Illit
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 Nazareth Illit
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| Coordinates: 32°43′N 35°20′E / 32.717°N 35.333°ECoordinates: 32°43′N 35°20′E / 32.717°N 35.333°E | ||
| District | Northern | |
| Founded | 1957 | |
| Government | ||
| • Type | City (from 1974) | |
| • Mayor | Ronen Plot | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 32,521 dunams (32.521 km2 or 12.556 sq mi) | |
| Population (2016) | ||
| • Total | 40,244 | |
| Name meaning | Upper Nazareth | |
Nazareth Illit (Hebrew: נָצְרַת עִלִּית, Arabic: الناصرة العليا, lit. Upper Nazareth) is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Founded in 1957, it was planned as a Jewish town overlooking the Arab city of Nazareth and the Jezreel Valley. In 2016 it had a population of 40,244.
The establishment of Nazareth Illit was conceived in the early 1950s when development towns such as Karmiel and Beit 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, the municipal elections in 1954, in which the Israel communist party Maki became the largest faction, were a source of concern.
A parcel of 1,200 dunams of land, about half within the municipal boundaries of Nazareth, was expropriated in 1954, relying on a law that permitted expropriations for public purposes. Protests at this action reached the Supreme 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.
According to historian Geremy Forman, 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." Forman wrote that Upper Nazareth was meant to "overpower Nazareth numerically, economically, and politically."
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Wikipedia