Kerem Maharal

Kerem Maharal (Hebrew: כֶּרֶם מַהֲרַ"ל, lit. 'Maharal Vineyard') is a moshav in northern Israel. Located near Atlit, on the southern side of Mount Carmel, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hof HaCarmel Regional Council. In 2022 it had a population of 749.^[1]

Kerem Maharal
Kerem Maharal
Coordinates: 32°38′57″N 34°59′31″E
Country	Israel
District	Haifa
Council	Hof HaCarmel
Affiliation	Moshavim Movement
Founded	1949
Founded by	Czechoslovak Jewish immigrants
Population  (2022)[1]	749

History

The moshav was established in 1949 by group of Jewish Holocaust survivors from Czechoslovakia, who immigrated to Israel with the help of the Aliya movement after World War II. But before the establishment of the new town it used to be the location of a predominantly Palestinian town Ijzim. Ijzim had an approximate population of 3000 inhabitants.

Kerem Maharal was named after legendary 16th century Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel, also known by the Hebrew acronym "Maharal" (Moreinu HaRav Loew, translated as Our teacher, the Rabbi Loew).^[2] It was built on the site of the depopulated Palestinian Arab villages of Ijzim and Khirbat Al-Manara,^[3][4] which were captured by the Israel Defense Forces in Operation Shoter during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.^[5] The residents lived in the Arab stone houses until the 1960s and some of the original structures remain today.^[5][6] A hotel in the moshav was previously a diwan or meeting house of Mas'ud al-Madi" of Ijzim, dating from the 18th century.^[7]

Notable residents

• Ami Ayalon, former head of Shin Bet.
• Ram Rothberg, former head of the Israel Navy.