
The Triangle (, ''HaMeshulash''; , ''al-Muthallath''), formerly referred to as the Little Triangle, is a concentration of
Israeli Arab
The Arab citizens of Israel form the country's largest ethnic minority. Their community mainly consists of former Palestinian Citizenship Order 1925, Mandatory Palestine citizens (and their descendants) who continued to inhabit the territory ...
towns and villages adjacent to the
Green Line, located in the eastern
Sharon plain among the
Samaria
Samaria (), the Hellenized form of the Hebrew name Shomron (), is used as a historical and Hebrew Bible, biblical name for the central region of the Land of Israel. It is bordered by Judea to the south and Galilee to the north. The region is ...
n foothills; this area is located within the easternmost boundaries of both the
Central District and
Haifa District
Haifa District () is an administrative district surrounding the city of Haifa in Israel. The district is one of the seven administrative districts of Israel, and its capital is Haifa. The district land area is 864 km2 (299.3 mi2).
D ...
. The eleven towns are home to approximately 250,000
Arab citizens of Israel
The Arab citizens of Israel form the country's largest ethnic minority. Their community mainly consists of former Palestinian Citizenship Order 1925, Mandatory Palestine citizens (and their descendants) who continued to inhabit the territory ...
, representing between 10 and 15% of Israel's Palestinian Arab population.
The Triangle is further divided into the "Northern Triangle" or
Wadi Ara
Wadi Ara (, ) or Nahal 'Iron (), is a valley and its surrounding area in Israel populated mainly by Arab citizens of Israel, Arab Israelis. The area is also known as the "Triangle (Israel), Northern Triangle".
Wadi Ara is located northwest of t ...
(around
Kafr Qara,
Ar'ara
Ar'ara (, ; lit. "Juniper tree")Palmer, 1881p.144/ref> is an Arab town in the Wadi Ara region in northern Israel. It is located southwest of Umm al-Fahm just northwest of the Green Line, and is part of the Triangle. In , the population was .
...
,
Baqa al-Gharbiyye,
Zemer and
Umm al-Fahm
Umm al-Fahm ( , ''Umm al-Faḥm''; ''Um el-Faḥem'') is a city located northwest of Jenin in the Haifa District of Israel. In its population was , nearly all of whom are Palestinian citizens of Israel. The city is situated on the Umm al-Fahm ...
) and the "Southern Triangle" (around
Qalansawe,
Tayibe,
Kafr Qasim
Kafr Qasim (, ), also spelled as Kafr Qassem, Kufur Kassem, Kfar Kassem and Kafar Kassem, is an Arab city in Israel. It is located about east of Tel Aviv, on the Israeli side of the Green Line separating Israel and the West Bank, in the sout ...
,
Tira,
Kafr Bara and
Jaljulia
Jaljulia (, ), officially also spelled Jaljulye, is an Arab citizens of Israel, Arab town in Israel near Kfar Saba. In it had a population of .
History
An archaeological dig started in 2017 at Jaljulia uncovered, at about a five-meter depth, ...
). Umm al-Fahm and Tayibe are the social, cultural and economic centers for Arab residents of the region. The Triangle is a stronghold of the
Islamic Movement in Israel
The Islamic Movement in Israel (; ) also known as the Islamic Movement in '48 Palestine () is an Islamist movement that advocates for Islam in Israel, particularly among Arab citizens of Israel, Arabs and Circassians in Israel, Circassians.
The ...
and
Raed Salah
Sheikh Raed Salah Abu Shakra (; ; born 1958) is a Palestinian religious leader from Umm al-Fahm, Israel. He is the leader of the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel. Salah was elected mayor of his town Umm al-Falm, an Israeli-Ara ...
, the current leader of the movement's northern faction, is a former mayor of
Umm al-Fahm
Umm al-Fahm ( , ''Umm al-Faḥm''; ''Um el-Faḥem'') is a city located northwest of Jenin in the Haifa District of Israel. In its population was , nearly all of whom are Palestinian citizens of Israel. The city is situated on the Umm al-Fahm ...
.
History and status
Prior to the
1948 Arab–Israeli War
The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, also known as the First Arab–Israeli War, followed the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine, civil war in Mandatory Palestine as the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. The civil war becam ...
and Israel's establishment and sovereignty over the Kafr Qasim, Jaljulia and Kafr Bara area, it was referred to as the "Little Triangle" to differentiate it from the original larger "Triangle" region between
Jenin
Jenin ( ; , ) is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, and is the capital of the Jenin Governorate. It is a hub for the surrounding towns. Jenin came under Israeli occupied territories, Israeli occupation in 1967, and was put under the administra ...
,
Tulkarm
Tulkarm or Tulkarem (, ''Ṭūlkarm'') is a Palestinians, Palestinian city in the West Bank, the capital of the Tulkarm Governorate of the State of Palestine. The Israeli city of Netanya is to the west, and the Palestinian territories, Palestinia ...
, and
Nablus
Nablus ( ; , ) is a State of Palestine, Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 156,906. Located between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a ...
.
The original triangle was dubbed by the British the "Triangle of Terror" or "Triangle of Fear", during the
1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine
A popular uprising by Palestinian Arabs in Mandatory Palestine against the British administration, later known as the Great Revolt, the Great Palestinian Revolt, or the Palestinian Revolution, lasted from 1936 until 1939. The movement sought i ...
.
The region was originally designated to fall under
Jordan
Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...
ian jurisdiction, but while negotiating the
1949 Armistice Agreements
The 1949 Armistice Agreements were signed between Israel and Egypt,[Hebron
Hebron (; , or ; , ) is a Palestinian city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Hebron is capital of the Hebron Governorate, the largest Governorates of Palestine, governorate in the West Bank. With a population of 201,063 in ...](_blank)
in exchange for the Triangle villages in
Wadi Ara
Wadi Ara (, ) or Nahal 'Iron (), is a valley and its surrounding area in Israel populated mainly by Arab citizens of Israel, Arab Israelis. The area is also known as the "Triangle (Israel), Northern Triangle".
Wadi Ara is located northwest of t ...
.
[Yisrael Ya'akov Yuval]
"Where is the Green Line"
''Two Thousand'', Vol. 29, no. 971, 2005 The term was later expanded to include the entire area around Wadi Ara (the Northern Triangle of today) and the "Little" appendage quickly fell out of common use.
Populations as of are as follows:
*
Umm al-Fahm
Umm al-Fahm ( , ''Umm al-Faḥm''; ''Um el-Faḥem'') is a city located northwest of Jenin in the Haifa District of Israel. In its population was , nearly all of whom are Palestinian citizens of Israel. The city is situated on the Umm al-Fahm ...
:
*
Tayibe:
*
Baqa al-Gharbiyye:
*
Ar'ara
Ar'ara (, ; lit. "Juniper tree")Palmer, 1881p.144/ref> is an Arab town in the Wadi Ara region in northern Israel. It is located southwest of Umm al-Fahm just northwest of the Green Line, and is part of the Triangle. In , the population was .
...
:
*
Kafr Qasim
Kafr Qasim (, ), also spelled as Kafr Qassem, Kufur Kassem, Kfar Kassem and Kafar Kassem, is an Arab city in Israel. It is located about east of Tel Aviv, on the Israeli side of the Green Line separating Israel and the West Bank, in the sout ...
:
*
Qalansawe:
*
Kafr Qara:
*
Jaljulia
Jaljulia (, ), officially also spelled Jaljulye, is an Arab citizens of Israel, Arab town in Israel near Kfar Saba. In it had a population of .
History
An archaeological dig started in 2017 at Jaljulia uncovered, at about a five-meter depth, ...
:
*
Zemer:
*
Kafr Bara:
Involuntary loss of citizenship
The concept of stripping the citizens of the area of their
citizenship
Citizenship is a membership and allegiance to a sovereign state.
Though citizenship is often conflated with nationality in today's English-speaking world, international law does not usually use the term ''citizenship'' to refer to nationalit ...
of Israel has been mooted. Several Israeli politicians have suggested the Triangle should be transferred to a future
Palestinian state
Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, collectively known as th ...
in exchange for Israel retaining control over
settlements in the
West Bank
The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
. The idea is a major part of the
Lieberman Plan
The Lieberman Plan, also known in Israel as the "Populated-Area Exchange Plan", was proposed in May 2004 by Avigdor Lieberman, the leader of the Israeli political party Yisrael Beiteinu. The plan suggests an exchange of ''populated territori ...
put forward by
Yisrael Beiteinu
Yisrael Beiteinu (, ) is a conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may ...
leader
Avigdor Lieberman
Avigdor Lieberman (, ; born 5 June 1958) is a Soviet-born Israeli politician who served as Ministry of Finance (Israel), Minister of Finance between 2021 and 2022, having previously served twice as Deputy Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to ...
but is largely opposed by Israeli Arabs. It is also a key feature of the
Trump peace plan, which stated:
The Triangle Communities consist of Kafr Qara, Ar’ara, Baha al-Gharbiyye, Umm al Fahm, Qalansawe, Tayibe, Kafr Qasim, Tira, Kafr Bara and Jaljulia. These communities, which largely self-identify as Palestinian, were originally designated to fall under Jordanian control during the negotiations of the Armistice Line of 1949, but ultimately were retained by Israel for military reasons that have since been mitigated. The Vision contemplates the possibility, subject to agreement of the parties that the borders of Israel will be redrawn such that the Triangle Communities become part of the State of Palestine. In this agreement, the civil rights of the residents of the triangle communities would be subject to the applicable laws and judicial rulings of the relevant authorities.[ :File:Peace to Prosperity.pdf]
In a July 2000 survey conducted by ''
Kul al-Arab
''Kul al-Arab'' (, meaning ''All of the Arabs'') is an Israeli Arabic-language weekly newspaper, founded in 1987.
Based in Nazareth, the paper is Israel's most influential and widely read Arabic-language periodical. It is also distributed in the ...
'' among 1,000 residents of Umm al-Fahm, 83 percent of respondents opposed the idea of transferring their city to Palestinian jurisdiction.
[Kul Al-Arab (Nazareth, Israel), 28 July 2000, cited in archived at ]
See also
*
Arab localities in Israel
Arab localities in Israel include all population centers with a 50% or higher Arab population in Israel. East Jerusalem and Golan Heights are not internationally recognized parts of Israel proper but have been included in this list.
According to ...
References
{{coord, 32, 15, 15, N, 34, 59, 40, E, region:IL_type:landmark_source:kolossus-cswiki, display=title
Arab localities in Israel
Geography of Haifa District
Geography of Central District (Israel)