Ahuzat Naftali

Ahuzat Naftali (Hebrew: אֲחֻזַּת נַפְתָּלִי‎, lit. Estate Naftali) is located in the Galilee region not far from Tiberias, next to kibbutz Lavi and south of Karnei Hittin. It was founded in 1949[1] as a moshav and falls under the jurisdiction of the Lower Galilee Regional Council. It was named after the biblical tribe of Naftali, which had been allotted this region according to the Book of Joshua (19:33).

In the 1960s the moshav was abandoned and it became an educational institute,[2] which was closed in the end of the 1970s. Then the place was uninhabited for decades.

In 2012 the building of a new Druze town at this estate was planned[3] and in 2016 approved by the government of Israel.[4] The planned town seeks to relieve the ongoing housing crisis among the Druze in Israel. Its initial settlement will consist of 400 housing units, and the town is expected to house 10,000 people at full capacity.[3] Ahuzat Naftali will be the first Druze town built by Israel since its inception, and the first Druze community to be established in what is now Israel for 130 years.[5][6]

References
  1. Vilnai, Ze'ev (1969). "Ahuzat-Naftali". Ariel Encyclopedia (in Hebrew). Volume 1. Tel Aviv, Israel: Am Oved. p. 101.
  2. Carta's Official Guide to Israel and Complete Gazetteer to all Sites in the Holy Land. (3rd edition 1993) Jerusalem, Carta, p. 73, ISBN 965-220-186-3
  3. "Israel to establish first new Druze town". Times of Israel.
  4. "New Israeli Druze town planned for Lower Galilee". Globes.
  5. "New Druze town approved". Ynet News.
  6. "First Town Specifically for Druze to Be Built in Galilee". Hamodia.

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