Ein HaYam (Wadi al-Jimal)

Ein HaYam (Hebrew: עין הים, lit. 'Eye of the Sea'), formerly Wadi al-Jimal, is a small neighborhood in Haifa, Israel between Kiryat Sprinzak and Kiryat Eliezer, mostly separated from the sea by railroad tracks.

Ein HaYam עין הים Wadi al-Jimal
Neighborhood in Haifa, Israel
Population
• Total	2,400

The neighborhood was founded in 1937 by Arab families and was known in Arabic as Wadi al-Jimal. The neighborhood was called "Ein HaYam -- Wadi al-Jimal" until 2006, when the official name and entrance sign were changed to "Ein HaYam (Previously Wadi al-Jimal)." In August 2021, the Haifa Naming Commission recommended restoration of the old name and signage^[1] and received pushback from some officials.^[2] By 2022, the municipality of Haifa was referring to the neighborhood as "Ein HaYam - Wadi al-Jimal" in official publications and the pre-2006 entrance sign had been restored.^[3] After the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, local Israeli activists complained that the entrance sign had been replaced without proper authorization by the municipal authorities.^[4]

2,400 Jews and Arabs live in the neighborhood,^[5] which has been cited a model of Jewish-Arab coexistence.^[6] It is home to the Oceanographic and Limnological Research Institute of Israel (IOLR), Tel Shikmona^[7][8] and the Ein HaYam trail tour.^[6]