Kasif, Israel

Kasif is planned for the Arad Valley in the Negev, at Tel Arad Junction near the southern junction of Highways 80 and 31. The site is approximately 10 kilometers west of Arad, near Kseifa and Tel Arad National Park.[1][2]

The project was conceived as a response to the Haredi housing shortage and as a means of encouraging Jewish settlement and development in the Negev.[6] By September 2026, its official name was "Menora in the South." At least NIS 22 million had been invested, and the project remained in advanced planning rather than construction.[5]

The government decided in 2007 to advance an urban community at Kasif as a response to Haredi housing demand and to encourage settlement in the Negev.[6] A 2009 description envisioned a city covering 990 acres and housing close to 50,000 people; the Interior Ministry initially suggested that its population might eventually double.[1]

In January 2010, a planning committee approved a proposal covering 4,750 dunams, with 10,000 homes for at least 50,000 residents.[7] A 2013 government proposal increased the target to approximately 12,000 homes and 60,000 residents and presented Kasif as a long-term alternative to Harish, which the government said had lost its intended Haredi character.[8]

In January 2015, a subcommittee of the National Planning and Building Council recommended approval of a larger plan: 16,000 homes for 80,000–100,000 residents across approximately 6,400 dunams. The plan called for four- to five-story apartment buildings, with detached homes comprising 15–20 percent of the housing.[6] The subcommittee rejected the social and environmental objections before it; detailed planning was expected to conclude in 2016, with land marketing potentially beginning in 2017.[6]

The project nevertheless stalled. A 2020 report said that then-Housing Minister Yaakov Litzman was shelving Kasif while directing greater attention toward a proposed Haredi city west of Kiryat Gat. By then, the Housing Ministry had paid more than half the value of detailed-planning agreements totaling approximately NIS 30 million.[2] The plan was revived in 2021 with a proposal for 10,000 homes and a projected population of 50,000.[9]

On March 14, 2022, the government approved establishing Kasif as a city to be built in stages in the Arad Valley. The approved plan included more than 20,000 homes for approximately 100,000–125,000 residents.[3]

The government reaffirmed that decision in May 2024. In August 2025, the special Kasif committee operating under the Southern District planning commission approved depositing the first detailed plan, covering the Rishonim quarter. The quarter was planned across approximately 3,150 dunams with about 5,000 homes.[4] State funding for implementation and land marketing had not yet been allocated, while the broader 7,000-dunam master plan remained unapproved by the planning institutions.[4]

In September 2026, a government team led by the Housing Ministry's director general recommended prioritizing the proposed city of Plogot and placing Kasif and Tila at a secondary priority. The recommendation deferred Kasif's advancement but did not cancel the project.[5]

Because Kasif remains a planned city, it does not yet have a resident population. Its projected capacity has changed repeatedly: 10,000 homes and at least 50,000 residents in 2010; approximately 12,000 homes and 60,000 residents in 2013; 16,000 homes and 80,000–100,000 residents in 2015; and more than 20,000 homes for approximately 100,000–125,000 residents in 2022.[7][3]

The plans have consistently targeted Haredi households, including young and relatively large families. Proposed urban forms have included large apartments, four- to five-story apartment buildings, a limited share of detached housing, and a street-oriented layout designed around Haredi family life and the local climate.[6][4]

Successive plans allocated substantial space for educational and religious institutions, cultural facilities, synagogues, mikvaot, and commercial and employment areas intended to accommodate Haredi communal life.[7][8] The 2013 proposal also included a railway station with a direct connection to Tel Aviv.[8]

The 2022 plan provided for approximately 520,000 square meters of employment and commercial space, a medical center offering professional training, and areas for science, high-tech, and biotechnology.[3] These facilities remained proposals: as of August 2025, the state had not allocated the funding required to implement the first detailed neighborhood plan or market its land.[4]

Kasif remains in the planning stage and therefore has no established municipal landmarks.[4][5] The principal nearby site identified in planning reports is Tel Arad National Park. The proposed city's proximity to the park and the surrounding open landscape has been a central element of environmental objections to its location.[7]

Kasif has drawn sustained objections from environmental advocates, neighboring municipalities, government ministries and, at times, members of the intended Haredi community.

The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel included Kasif among 81 identified environmental threats and argued that construction in the Arad Valley would disrupt a high-quality open area near Tel Arad National Park.[1][7] It warned that new roads and utilities would damage the landscape, reduce open space and harm natural habitat.[7] After the 2022 approval, the organization argued that strengthening the Negev should focus on existing communities rather than new settlements.[3] The Israel Nature and National Parks Service proposed Hiran and Carmit as alternatives and encouraged Haredi residents to settle in existing southern cities.[1]

Local officials expressed opposing positions. Arad Mayor Gideon Bar-Lev argued that Kasif contradicted development recommendations favoring established population groups over new towns and could obstruct a proposed wind-energy project near Arad.[1] Dimona Mayor Meir Cohen welcomed the plan as a means of establishing a Jewish community in the Negev, while an Interior Ministry representative said Kasif could strengthen the Jewish population there and accompany reconstruction of Highway 31.[1]

Geography professor Eran Razin argued that if separate Haredi cities were to be built, Kasif should be developed first. Its distance from central Israel and less desirable land, he said, could help shift Haredi housing demand southward and test whether such a community was viable.[10]

The Finance Ministry was a prominent critic of the project. In response to the 2022 approval, it estimated that establishing Kasif would cost approximately NIS 1.6 billion more than distributing Haredi households among nearby existing cities. It also argued that the distance from employment centers would hinder efforts to increase Haredi workforce participation.[3] A 2016 Housing Ministry strategy document expressed "considerable doubt" about the site's suitability for the Haredi population, and some Haredi leaders considered it too remote from other urban communities.[2] Environmental Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg opposed the 2022 decision on economic, social and environmental grounds, including the loss of open land.[3]

In May 2022, the Kseifa Local Council petitioned the Supreme Court to cancel the government's decision and annex the planned Kasif area to Kseifa, citing a severe shortage of land for the locality's present and future housing needs.[11] The petitioners also alleged that the plan was politically motivated and would promote the "Judaization" of neighboring areas; these were claims made in the legal filing, not established findings.[11]

A May 2026 government review formally put planning for new Haredi cities on hold, even as construction tenders for Kasif were reportedly being prepared. The Finance Ministry maintained that Haredi housing demand was already being met in mixed cities.[10] The varying plans—from 10,000 homes and at least 50,000 residents in 2010 to more than 20,000 homes and up to 125,000 residents in 2022—reflect the project's long planning history and repeated policy revisions.[7][3]