Солтүстік Израильдегі Йокнеам Иллит қаласы

the city in northern Israel

Yokneam Illit , also Yoqne'am Illit and Jokneam Illit, is a city in northern Israel. It is located in a hilly region of the lower Galilee at the base of the Carmel Mountains, and overlooks the Jezreel Valley. It is from Haifa and from Tel Aviv. Yokneam is known as Israel's "Startup Village," because its high tech hub is surrounded by forest and small communities. Yokneam Illit was founded in 1950 and became a local authority in 1967, and a city in 2007. The city is located alongside the country's major highways – Highway 70 and Highway 6. In it had a population of
Starting in 1989 when a new mayor, Simon Alfassi, was elected, the economic structure of Yokneam Illit changed from a centralized dependence on two large factories to a dispersed base of many small high tech companies. As the number and size of the companies grew, Yokneam and the small communities around it began to attract young entrepreneurs and developers who were looking for a less urban alternative to the Tel Aviv area. It now has over 100 high tech companies, and exports of approximately 5 billion US dollars annually. The policy of the municipality is to build low density, spacious homes to preserve the landscape and views from every home. Although real estate prices are low relative to the Tel Aviv area, its high rate of growth in recent years has pushed prices up faster than in similar sized cities.

Yokneam appears in the list of 119 conquered cities by Egyptian Pharaoh Thutmose III after the victory in the battle of Megiddo (1468 BC). Yokneam or Jokneam is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as a city of Levites within the territory of the Israelite tribe of Zebulun It is located near Megiddo (Armageddon). The Crusaders called Yokneam "Cain Mons", or "Mountain of Cain" in keeping with the tradition that Cain, son of Adam , was murdered at this site. Yokneam was populated throughout the Persian, Hellenistic, Roman/Byzantine, Arab, Crusaders, Mameluk, and Ottoman periods. Yokneam was built on the lands of a Palestinian Arab village named Qira, depopulated in the lead up to the 1948 Arab–Israeli war. The Yokneam Moshava was established in 1935. In July 1950, a tent camp (Maabara) was set up to absorb 250 new immigrant families and remained part of Yokneam Moshava until 1967. By the start of 1952, another 400 families were housed in the tent camp. Toward the end of 1951, the first 285 families moved from the tent camp to permanent housing on the hill above the Yokneam Moshava. In 1952, Yokneam was considered unusual in that it had a single school for all regardless of whether they were religious or secular, or from the moshava or the tent camp. In 1964, Yokneam of 4,300 residents, with 160 of the families living in the moshava. In 1967, Yokneam was split into two local councils (Yokneam and Yokneam Illit). In the 1980s there were two factories in Yokneam, employing 90% of its residents. One collapsed and unemployment soared creating a challenging situation for residents. In the 1990s, Yokneam absorbed a large wave of immigrants from Ethiopia and the former Soviet Union. During that time, Yokneam's industrial parks became a magnet for high tech firms. Yokneam Illit was formally declared a city in 2006. In 2009, Yokneam was linked to Highway 6 and also received recognition as Israel's first "Green City" in the Cleantech competition. These two events significantly boosted Yokneam's attraction as a center for companies involved in medical, cleantech and product development. In 2011, some 16,000 workers entered the industrial parks every day. Of these, only 4,000 were local residents.

On Dec. 31, 2014, Yokneam had a population of 21,100 residents, with a population density of 2,576.5. The rate of unemployment is 5 percent, lower than the national average. The median age in the Yokneam region is 32. 76% of Yokneam Illit's residents are 40 years old or under. 40% of Yokneam's population are college graduates.

Since the 1950s when Yokneam Moshava and Yokneam Illit shared a single school, social integration and coexistence has been an integral part of the local culture. Examples of this cooperation can be seen in the activities of the Southeast chapter of the US Israel Chamber of Commerce in Atlanta, and the success of companies like Given Imaging Given Imaging, which began as a small startup in Yokneam Illit, leveraged its special relationship with the Southeast chapter of the US Israel Chamber of Commerce when it opened its Marketing headquarters in Atlanta, GA.

Yokneam's proximity to two major universities (Technion and University of Haifa, both in Haifa), location at the crossroads between northern Israel and the major urban areas of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, tax benefits and investment grants associated with its status as a "National Priority Area A", and its small town surroundings and lower cost of housing all worked together to attract Israel's highest concentration of R&D companies outside of Tel Aviv and give it the nickname of Startup Village. Under the Israeli Law for the Encouragement of Capital Investment, approved enterprises in Yokneam Illit enjoy the highest level of tax benefits and investment grants (currently up to 20% of the investment or 10 year tax exemption). The growth of the high tech companies in Yokneam has attracted speakers and members of specialized professions, such as technical writers, to come from other parts of Israel to meet and exchange ideas. In addition to technology based industry, Yokneam has a number of production facilities, including Osem, which established a plant in Yokneam in 1974; and a boutique winery, Morad Winery, known for its special wines made from Pomegranates, Passion Fruit, Red Grapefruits, Coffee, Coconuts, Carub and many other fruits. Initially, the plant produced mainly pasta products, but the scope of activities broadened over the years. In 1997, the facility doubled in size and three production lines were installed for baked goods such as crackers, biscuits, cookies and pretzels. Bamba, a popular Israeli snack food, is also produced in Yokneam. Many Yokneam residents are employed at the plant, which won awards from the Council for a Beautiful Israel for its attractive premises.

Major startup exits include BTG's recent $110 million acquisition of Galil Medical, Amazon's acquisition of Annapurna Labs for a reported $350–375 million and Mellanox Technologies acquisition of EZchip Semiconductor for a reported $811 million, Covidien's 2014 acquisition of Given Imaging for a reported $860 million, Intel's acquisition of Oplus Technologies Inc in 2005 for nearly $50 million, and Marvell's acquisition of Galileo Technology Ltd. for $2.7 billion in stock in 2000. In addition to these exits, Lumenis recently merged with an affiliate of China's XIO group for a reported $510 million.

As the number of hi tech companies in Yokneam grow, technology incubators have begun opening in or moving to Yokneam, each specializing in different types of technology.

Yokneam is a very green city. Not just in terms of ecological activism, but also in terms of its physical surroundings. Roughly two thirds of the land within Yokneam's city limits are green space (parks, archeological digs, gardens, playgrounds). It has five major public parks, and outdoor amphitheater and over 80 playgrounds distributed throughout the city. Tel Yokneam, which includes the ruins of a crusader church and its intricate water system, is used as an educational site where Yokneam's school children perform restoration work under the direction of the Antiquities Authority and the National Parks Authority. Nearly 13 kilometers of bicycle paths connect all of the parks and public spaces. The city is also surrounded by the Ramot Menashe Biosphere Reserve of the Megiddo Regional Council, which is currently in the process of becoming recognized by UNESCO as a biosphere reserve. Each year thousands of Israelis participate in Yokneam's annual walking event which began in 1991. In 2013 there were 35,000 participants. The event takes place in the Spring, with a short route of 6 km and a longer route of 11 km through the hills and valleys that surround Yokneam. The 2014 walking event is scheduled for April 17, 2014.

Yokneam sits at the intersections of Highway 70 and Highway 6, which connect all of Israel with both Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. One of the main stations of the new railway line, being in operation from 2016, from the Jordanian border to the port of Haifa is located only 5 minutes from the Yokneam's high tech parks. Yokneam is 20–25 minutes from Haifa Airport and 12 minutes from the Ramat David airbase, which is reported to be the most likely location for a new International airport to complement Ben Gurion Airport. The bus service in Yokneam is provided by 3 bus companies. Superbus provides the local service in Yokneam and intercity service to Haifa and Afula. Superbus also runs night lines (including Friday nights) to Haifa, Kiryat Tivon and Ramat Ishai. All bus stops are handicapped accessible. Egged and Nateev Express provide express intercity services to Tel Aviv, Bnei Brak and Jerusalem, as well as service with stops along the way. There is a taxi stand at the shopping mall at the eastern entrance to Yokneam Illit. The Yokneam Illit Municipality encourages the use of bicycles in the city. It currently has 13 km of bicycle paths that connect all of it public parks and buildings.

Yokneam allocates 42% of its budget to education. With 75% of its students passing the national matriculation exams and a dropout rate of only 0.8%, Yokneam Illit was awarded the National Education Prize and the Regional Education Prize several times in recent years. Preschool from age 3 has been free in Yokneam Illit for 20 years. The IDF Head of Manpower Planning recently awarded the city a special excellence prize for achieving an 87% level of enlistment in the IDF and the eighth highest level of recruitment to elite units and officers courses in all of Israel. Yokneam has a branch of the Open University for bachelor's and master's degrees. The municipality is currently trying to expand on this by working with major universities to open branches in Yokneam.

Residents of Yokneam Illit are avid theater goers and there are three local theaters, Yokneam City Theater (seats 475), Tarbuta (seats 200) and an amateur theater MixArt. Israel's best known theater groups come to perform at The Yokneam City Theater operates 6 days a week. The subscription series with 8 different performances a year from Israel's best known theater companies has grown from one day of the week to five in order to accommodate a total audience of over 2,000, or 10% of its population. The theater also runs two subscription series for children with a total of 600 subscribers, one for ages 3–6 and the other for ages 6–10. A separate "Fringe" series has 200 subscribers for one man or small theater companies and nontraditional theater performances. Low cost and subsidized performances that are outside of the subscription series include performances in Yiddish by the "Yiddish Shpiel" company , events for the Ethiopian community, children's concerts, and animation theater. The Jewish Federation subsidizes children's theater subscriptions for members of the Ethiopian community to bring their cost of a child accompanied by one parent down to 100 ILS (approximately US$30) for the entire series. The local Artists' Guild makes use of the theater to display artwork from local and outside artists. A second theater house, Tarbuta , seats 200. The Family Empowerment Center also runs a Drama Therapy group for Ethiopian women that performs in Hebrew and Amharic. During the summer months, musicians from all over Israel perform in the open air Amphitheater. MixArt is an amateur studio established in 2017 under the patronage of Yokneam's Department of Absorption and performing plays in Russian and Hebrew. To date, this group does not have its own scene. There are also many dance performances held at Kibbutz Ein HaShofet, just outside Yokneam. One of Israel's largest movie houses, Yes Planet, is only 15 minutes away. Yokneam Illit does not have any bars or pubs. Young people looking for more than wine or beer at a restaurant or coffee shop go to nearby Ramat Ishai. a new Country Club including an indoor and outdoor swimming pool, an additional community swimming pool, and a Soccer field, which is run by the Hapoel sports association and is very active with the school age children. Local teams compete in league for Basketball, Soccer, Baseball, , and Bicycle Racing. The Indoor basketball court at Hapoel seats 500. The outdoor soccer field seats 200. The Yokneam Megiddo Region has two baseball teams that represent their Sister Cities (the Atlanta Braves and the St. Louis Cardinals). These teams have participated in many tournaments: Jr Macabbiah Games, European Tournaments and the Israeli Junior Olympics where they received the bronze medal. One of the local Kibutz' has donated the land necessary to build a new Baseball/Softball Stadium in conjunction with the Israel Softball Association and the Jewish National Fund. The Israel Softball Association is helping to start a Special Education Program for the families in the area. In 2012–2013, Yokneam had a player make the Junior National Team which traveled to Denmark that summer. Starting in 2012, 12 youngsters from Daliyat al Karmel began taking part in a weekly co existence program at the Israel Tennis Center as part of a tennis school financed by the Freddie Krivine Foundation.