Ya'ara () is a

moshav A moshav (, plural ', "settlement, village") is a type of Israeli village or town or Jewish settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 and 1 ...

in northern

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. Located near

Ma'alot-Tarshiha Ma'alot-Tarshiha (; ) is a city in the North District, Israel, North District in Israel, about east of Nahariya, and about Above mean sea level, above sea level. The city was established in 1963 through a municipal merger of the Arab citizens of ...

, it falls under the jurisdiction of

Ma'ale Yosef Regional Council The Ma'ale Yosef Regional Council (, ''Mo'atza Azorit Ma'aleh Yosef'') is a Regional council (Israel), regional council in the Upper Galilee, part of the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel, situated between the towns of Ma'alot ...

. In it had a population of .

History

The village was established in 1950 on land that had belonged to the depopulated

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

village of Arab al-Samniyya by

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

from

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

, who were later joined by Jewish immigrants from

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

and local

Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu ( ; , singular ) are pastorally nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia (Iraq). The Bedouin originated in the Sy ...

, making it the first mixed Jewish-Bedouin village in the country. It was named after the surrounding forests. During the 2023–24 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, northern Israeli border communities including Ya'ara faced targeted attacks by

Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...

and Palestinian factions based in

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, resulting in their evacuation.

References

{{Authority control Bedouin localities in Israel Moshavim Populated places established in 1950 Populated places in Northern District (Israel) 1950 establishments in Israel North African-Jewish culture in Israel Yemeni-Jewish culture in Israel