Bethlehem of Galilee
בֵּית לֶחֶם הַגְּלִילִית | |
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  Bethlehem of Galilee  Bethlehem of Galilee | |
| Coordinates: 32°44′12″N 35°11′29″E / 32.73667°N 35.19139°E | |
| Grid position | 167/237 PAL |
| Country | Israel |
| District | Northern |
| Council | Jezreel Valley |
| Affiliation | Moshavim Movement |
| Founded | 2000 BCE (Ancient town) 1596 (Bayt Lahm) 1906 (Templer colony) 1948 (Moshav) |
| Population (2022)[1] | 824 |
Bethlehem of Galilee (Hebrew: בֵּית לֶחֶם הַגְּלִילִית, Beit Lehem HaGlilit; lit. "the Galilean Bethlehem") or Bethlehem-in-the-Galilee[2] is a moshav in northern Israel. Located in the Galilee near Kiryat Tivon, around 10 kilometres north-west of Nazareth and 30 kilometres east of Haifa, it falls under the jurisdiction of the Jezreel Valley Regional Council. As of 2022 it had a population of 824.[1]
The modern moshav is located at the site of the ancient Israelite settlement known as Bethlehem of Zebulun or Betlehem Zoria(h). Due to its proximity to Nazareth, one historian believes that it is the Bethlehem where Jesus of Nazareth was born. Aviram Oshri, a senior archaeologist with the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), supports this claim, but other researchers at the same institution reject it. The town existed as a Christian settlement in the classic era and was populated during the Middle Ages. It was reestablished as a German Templer Colony in Palestine in the 19th century and turned into a Jewish moshav in 1948.
- ^ a b "Regional Statistics". Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
- ^ Negev and Gibson (2001), p. 80.