About the Council
The Upper Galilee Regional Council is located in the northeastern tip of the State of Israel. Its jurisdiction covers approximately 300,000 dunams and includes 29 kibbutzim, the Vered HaGalil Farm, “Domus Galilaeae,” the Hermon Field School, and Tel-Hai College. The council is home to approximately 21,000 residents.
The council’s communities are divided into three geographical areas: the mountain communities, the northern Hula Valley communities, and the southern valley communities.
Until 1975, the council was comprised of both kibbutzim and moshavim. Following a reorganization of regional councils based on settlement identity, the moshavim withdrew to establish an independent regional council—Mevo’ot HaHermon. Since this process, the Upper Galilee Regional Council has consisted exclusively of kibbutzim.
The character of the Upper Galilee Regional Council is shaped by its unique composition of kibbutzim only, as well as two additional factors: its distance from Israel’s economic and political centers and its proximity to the international border. Due to the region’s location along the country’s northern borders, the kibbutzim are intertwined with significant historical and security events: the establishment of Tel-Hai (1920), the “Tower and Stockade” settlements (1939), the War of Independence (Kfar Szold, Gadot, and Mahanaim), and the Syrian front line until 1967. Since then, the region has faced ongoing security challenges due to its proximity to the Lebanese border.
