KIRYAT TIVON

KIRYAT TIVON (Heb. קִרְיַת טִבְעוֹן), town with municipal council status (since 1958) in northern Israel, between the Jezreel and Zebulun valleys. A workers' suburb, Kiryat Amal ("City of Toil"), was founded there during the Arab riots in 1937 and expanded after World War II. Its inhabitants were employed partly in Haifa and partly in auxiliary and full-fledged farms. In 1947, "Keret," an investment company formed by British Zionists, established a second suburb, Tivon, north of Kiryat Amal, which after the Israeli war of independence (1948) became an important holiday resort. In 1957, Tivon, which had 4,850 inhabitants, and Kiryat Amal with about 4,000 merged into Kiryat Tivon together with El-Ro'i, a moshavah founded in 1935 by immigrants from Kurdistan. In 1969 it had a population of 9,700, rising to 13,300 in 2002, including the population of Kiryat Ḥaroshet , which merged with Kiryat Tivon in 1979. The municipal area is 3.5 sq. mi. (9 sq. km.).The foremost economic branch continued to be the recreation and tourist trade, but by the beginning of the 21st century, Kiryat Tivon was no longer a tourist center. The town's residents mostly commuted to work in nearby Haifa, Jokneam, and Afulah. Large natural oak and pine forests are located in the vicinity, and the Bet She'arim antiquities lie within Kiryat Tivon's muncipal area. The home of shomer (guardsman) alexander zeid has been transformed into a youth hostel. Basmat Tabʿūn, a Bedouin housing project, adjoins Kiryat Tivon in the northwest. The Oranim academic college, with 5,500 students, founded by the kibbutzim movement, is located in the town. (Efraim Orni / Shaked Gilboa (2nd ed.)