REKHASIM

REKHASIM (Heb. רְכָסִים, "Ridges"), semiurban settlement in the Tivon Hills of Israel, 10 mi. (16 km.) S.E. of Haifa. Rekhasim, founded in 1951 as kefar Ḥasidim (ma'barot "A" and "B"), became a permanent settlement and received local council status in 1959. The population, numbering 1,500 in 1951, grew to 2,550 in 1970 as immigrants from Romania and North Africa were absorbed. Most of the inhabitants found employment in the Zebulun Valley. In the mid-1990s the population was approximately 4,970, increasing to 7,750 in 2002 and occupying an area of 1.2 sq. mi. (3 sq. km.). The majority of Rekhasim's population was ultra-Orthodox, with family income considerably below the national average. (Efraim Orni / Shaked Gilboa (2nd ed.)