The capital of the Western Galilee

The tax breaks and convenient public transportation offered in Nahariya make it an attractive location despite relatively high prices

By JOHN BENZAQUEN
Nahariya is supa nice521 (photo credit: Courtesy)
Nahariya is supa nice521
(photo credit: Courtesy)
‘Swabia in Palestine” is how the British MP, a member of the Anglo-American commission on then- Mandatory Palestine, described Nahariya in his book Mission to Palestine, referring to the German region.
And with good reason – since Nahariya was founded by German Jews. Up until the early 1950s, it was a very Germanized city. The German Jews, or Yekes as they were popularly known, found it difficult to culturally assimilate. Consequently, up to the first half of the 1950s, when the city was flooded with immigrants from Eastern Europe and the Arab countries, German was very much the language of communication.
Nahariya is one of Israel’s most northerly cities, located 9.5 kilometers from the Lebanon border. It was founded in February 1935, when the first group of German Jewish settlers moved into their new homes.
These founding fathers wanted to create an agricultural settlement akin to similar settlements in Germany, but they soon realized that it would be better economically if they combined agriculture with tourism. Thus, besides building farms, the first residents built small, German-type guest houses that were patronized by British administration officials and officers serving in Palestine, as well as affluent members of the Jewish population who wanted to enjoy European-style holidays.
In 1948 when the state was founded, Nahariya was inhabited by nearly 5,000 people, all of them German Jews. Today, Nahariya has 65,000 inhabitants, and the German element has been largely diluted.
Because of its proximity to Lebanon, the city has been a frequent target of attacks. During the Second Lebanon War in 2006, Nahariya sustained a barrage of several hundred Katyusha rockets, launched by Hezbollah from southern Lebanon. Five civilians were killed, and significant damage was inflicted on property and physical infrastructure. Nahariya also suffered a major economic blow, as two-thirds of the city’s population was evacuated, with the rest spending most of their time in bomb shelters.
Since 2006, things have been quiet and demand for real estate has been steady. Real estate prices in Nahariya are more expensive than in the other coastal towns of the North, yet there is a steady stream of professional, middleclass families moving there from as far south as Tel Aviv.
How did this state of affairs come about? The explanation is mostly financial, but is also linked to the transportation system.
Nahariya is considered a frontier region. Therefore, it has a much lighter income tax structure. Individuals making an annual NIS 220,000 pay no income tax at all, and those with higher incomes pay 13 percent less than the regular rates – a good incentive to live in Nahariya.
The impetus to live there is further strengthened by the railway system.
With its northern terminal in Nahariya, the train goes directly from the city to Tel Aviv in an hour and 20 minutes.
On the way, it stops at many of the country’s employment centers, with most stations within walking distance of residential areas. The train station in Herzliya, for example, is within walking distance from the Herzliya Pituah hi-tech industrial park. This means that a Nahariya resident can get to the Herzliya industrial park in one hour and 10 minutes, which is shorter than it takes to get from the industrial park to Tel Aviv during peak hours. As a result, while most of the new arrivals to Nahariya come from the North, some come from the Tel Aviv area.
Another of Nahariya’s selling points is the fact that it is a resort city on the shores of the Mediterranean.
“Currently, demand for real estate in the city is brisk,” says Eyal Ginat of the Anglo-Saxon brokerage’s Nahariya branch. “The combination of the fiscal benefits and easy access to the national railway and road grid make it a very attractive place to live. There is constant demand from residents of the Haifa area and Krayot [Haifa’s bayside suburbs], who want to upgrade their living standards. The fact that Nahariya is on average more expensive than other towns in the area does not deter buyers.
“A new four-room apartment in the center of town costs NIS 1.05 -1.15 million, on average. A second-hand apartment costs NIS 950,000-1.05m., while old four-room apartments with large rooms and high ceilings can cost NIS 750,000-850,000.
“Similar apartments in the surrounding neighborhoods will cost less,” he continues. “In Nahariya, in contrast to a city like Tel Aviv or Haifa, the center is the most desirable place to live – with the exception of apartments on streets opposite the sea such as Hama’apilim, Sokolow, Ha’aliya and Balfour. Such an apartment can cost NIS 1.5m. if new, and penthouses can cost NIS 2.5m.”
This desirable city center is called Ga’aton, and is parallel to a river of the same name. In the winter rainy season it becomes a torrent; in summer, it is merely a trickle.
The Ga’aton, both street and stream, run on an east-west axis, from the coastal highway junction and on to the seashore.
Shaded by eucalyptus trees and lined with countless shops, boutiques, outdoor cafes, restaurants and ice cream parlors, Ga’aton Boulevard is Nahariya’s main tourist district, as well as its business and entertainment center.
Many of the city’s most expensive apartments are located on this street, which is reminiscent of the main street of a small rural town in the US or Australia.
Nahariya Mayor Jacky Sabag is very upbeat about his city.
“Nahariya is the pearl of the western Galilee, a seaside city with seven kilometers of beach,” he says. “We are in the process of expansion, with a further 4,500 residential units planned. The municipality prides itself on the level of cleanliness of the city and on the high quality of life, offering residents excellent municipal services.
“Nahariya is the provincial capital of the western Galilee; it is also one of the liveliest and most beautiful cities in the country.”