Karmiel (Hebrew: כַּרְמִיאֵל‎, lit. Vineyard of God) is a city in northern Israel. Established in 1964 as a development town, Karmiel is located in the Beit HaKerem Valley which divides upper and lower Galilee. The city is located south of the Acre-Safed road, 32 kilometres (20 mi) from Safed and 20 kilometres (12 mi) from Acre. Karmiel has a population of 44,400, although its municipality claims to have reached 50,000.

History

Karmiel was one of the first cities in Israel to be established according to an urban master plan. It was built as part of the Central Galilee Development Project. Work began in 1963, and the official inauguration ceremony took place in October 1964. The first 16 families moved in at that time. In 1981, Karmiel was awarded the Beautiful Israel prize and the Kaplan Prize for Management and Services. Karmiel achieved city status on November 20, 1986. The first mayor was Baruch Venger, followed by Adi Eldar, who has remained in this position until today. Some 18,000 new immigrants settled in Karmiel between 1990 and 2002.

Conception and initial work

Karmiel was built according to a master plan, which was completed by the Housing Ministry by February 1963. The tender for the construction of Karmiel's main roads was issued in the same month. In the same year, Mekorot created a water pipe network connecting Karmiel, Rameh, Sha'ab and other nearby villages, in order to pump water from a location near Karmiel.