Nof HaGalil

Abstract is: Nof HaGalil (Hebrew: נוֹף הַגָּלִיל, lit. View of Galilee; Arabic: نوف هچليل) is a city in the Northern District of Israel with a population of 41,734. Nof HaGalil was founded in 1957 as Nazareth Illit (Hebrew: נָצְרַת עִלִּית, Arabic: الناصرة العليا / نتسرات عيليت, lit. Upper Nazareth), it was planned as a Jewish town overlooking the Arab city of Nazareth and the Jezreel Valley. In 1963, it was declared a local council, and in 1974, it formally gained the status of a city. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the city saw a large influx of Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet republics, which doubled the city's population and made it one of the centers of Russian Jewish culture in Israel. In recent decades, the city also became a mixed city following significant Israeli Arab immigration; today 29% of the city's population is Arab, although they depend on neighboring Nazareth for many services as the municipality has refused to allow the building of any churches, mosques or Arabic-speaking schools. Its name was changed in 2019 to "Nof HaGalil" following a plebiscite in which 80% of voters, although with low turnout, approved the change.