Kiryat Malakhi

Kiryat Malakhi is a municipality in Israel’s Southern District, about 20 kilometers northeast of Ashkelon. Its municipal area was 4.6 square kilometers in the CBS profile for 2023.[1][2] A historical account places the town about 15 miles inland from Ashkelon and describes it as a service center for roughly 20 agricultural settlements in the surrounding area.[5]

The town’s name is associated with the Jewish community of Los Angeles, whose members contributed funds to support its establishment and early housing. A historical document rendered the name as “town of my Angel,” while a reference work describes it as the Hebrew equivalent of Los Angeles.[5][2] Kiryat Malakhi’s identity has been shaped by immigrant settlement, agricultural links, and the varied communities that have made their home there.

Kiryat Malakhi began as a ma’abarah, or immigrant transit camp, on land formerly occupied by the British Army’s Kastina camp, which remained there until the War of Independence.[2][3] Sources differ on the establishment year: the memorial-site entry and Encyclopaedia Judaica give 1950,[2][3] while historical accounts give 1951.[5][4]

Sources also differ on the local-council chronology. The memorial-site entry says the name Kiryat Malakhi was adopted when the settlement was declared a local council in 1958, in recognition of contributions from the Jewish community of Los Angeles.[3] Encyclopaedia Judaica instead says it received municipal council status in 1965.[2] Both that reference work and the CBS profile give 1998 as the year it became a city.[1][2]

The city’s development was connected to immigrant absorption and to the growth of agriculture in the surrounding region. Its first residents lived in immigrant camps and faced the challenge of rebuilding their lives in an unfamiliar place.[10] Support from Los Angeles Jews helped finance early housing and settlement.[2][10]

A 1971-era account described Kiryat Malakhi as an immigrant development town established with help from Los Angeles and said it had experienced population turnover of 80% “until recently” during an earlier period of difficulty. The document credited local industry, government and private support, and contributions from the Los Angeles Jewish community—including funding for a town library—with improving conditions.[5]

Immigrant absorption remained a visible part of the town’s development. A center described in the same historical account housed 85 families—about 300 people—for six months, providing Hebrew classes and assistance with work and housing before permanent settlement. Its residents at the time were almost all from Russia; activities for families included a children’s day camp, trips, and cultural events.[5] Rivka Guber, who organized education in the Kastina transit camp and assisted immigrant absorption in the Lachish area, later received the Israel Prize for services in immigrant absorption in 1976.[11]

Kiryat Malakhi also became a site of local political activity. Moshe Katzav’s family was sent to the Kastina ma’abarah, at the site of present-day Kiryat Malakhi. Katzav was elected head of the local council in 1969 while a student, lost his majority after repeat elections several months later, and was later reelected, serving from 1976 to 1981.[12]

Transport links have been a recurring development issue. The Kiryat Malakhi–Yoav railway station was inaugurated in 2018 on the Southern Railway line, which connects Kiryat Gat to the south with Ramla to the north. Platforms and passageways had been built in 2011, but completion was delayed for lack of funds until financing was found in 2016. Residents criticized the station’s location, reported to be eight kilometers from the city, and no shuttle service was planned at the time of its opening.[13]

The CBS recorded 27,395 residents at the end of 2023, with population growth of 2.3% over the prior year and a natural increase of 486 people. Its profile classified 98.0% of residents as Jewish, 1.5% as “Others,” and 0.5% as Muslim.[1]

The town’s population has reflected successive waves of immigration. A study-conference document from around 1971 put the population at approximately 8,500; it said about half of residents originated in North Africa and listed Romania, Yemen, Iraq, Russia, Iran, and Egypt among the places of origin of others. It also noted the recent arrival of Orthodox Chabad immigrants from Georgia and Russia and said more than 20% of residents were Orthodox.[5] A reference work gives a 1968 population of 7,500, with 50% from Asian and African countries, 35% Israeli-born or veteran Israelis, and 15% from Eastern Europe.[2]

Kiryat Malakhi has one of Israel’s largest Ethiopian-origin populations as a share of the local population. At the end of 2008, Ethiopian residents made up 17% of the town’s population, according to a locality breakdown based on CBS data.[14] The CBS reported that residents of Ethiopian origin accounted for 15.1% at the end of 2022, the highest share among localities in that release.[7] A later Ynet report on CBS data gave the share as 13.8% at the end of 2024, again the highest among Israeli localities.[15] These figures refer to different dates and releases; the CBS distinguishes people born in Ethiopia from Israeli-born residents whose fathers were born there when describing the broader national population of Ethiopian origin.[7]

The town has also seen rapid growth in its ultra-Orthodox population. An Institute for National Security Studies table, based on December 2022 data, listed 25,500 residents, including 6,100 ultra-Orthodox residents, or 24% of the population.[6] This estimate and the CBS year-end 2023 population figure use different dates and sources.

Kiryat Malakhi’s early economy combined local manufacturing and services for nearby agriculture. A historical account listed construction, shops, an ice-cream factory, a slaughter and meat-packing plant, a tannery, plastics, and clothing among local industries, and said some residents worked in agriculture nearby.[5] For 1968, a reference entry additionally listed poultry processing and production of textiles, cardboard, plastics, leatherwear, and metal.[2] By 2002, the reference entry reported a population of 19,100, including about 3,000 Ethiopian Jews, and income at about half the national average.[2]

The 2023 CBS profile placed Kiryat Malakhi in socioeconomic cluster 3 out of 10, using 2021 data, and in peripherality cluster 6 out of 10, using 2020 data. The two scales run in different directions: cluster 1 is the lowest socioeconomic level but the most peripheral level.[1]

The city’s cultural diversity is also reflected in its food traditions. In a 2024 feature, Mayor Eliyahu (Lalo) Zohar described local food culture as a “true ingathering of exiles,” linking it to immigrants who arrived in the 1950s from Iraq, Libya, Morocco, Iran, and Romania, followed by later arrivals from Russia and Ethiopia.[16] A documentary, South Los Angeles, focused on Kiryat Malakhi and its relationship with Los Angeles through the lives of Yosef Khouri, a clock repairer who ran for local council in 2018, and his daughters.[17]

A city-wide youth initiative launched in 2016 by the municipality, the Rashi Foundation, and other partners sought to expand after-school and youth-group participation. A 2023 report said participation in experiential after-school activities rose from 15% to 45%, youth-group participation increased from fewer than 500 to more than 1,000 children, and the number of youth counselors grew from 30 to 180; the municipal budget for the field increased by 400%.[18]

Kiryat Malakhi is adjacent to Nahal Ha’ela, where restoration and park work had begun by 2022. The project was reported to have a budget of NIS 9 million, with bicycle paths, picnic areas, and seating among its planned amenities.[10] Near the city’s industrial zone, a railway bridge over the stream is described as an Ottoman-era remnant: German engineers built it in 1917 for the Ottoman army, and it was used during the First World War.[10]

The railway bridge north of Kiryat Malakhi, near the industrial zone, is identified as one of the last remnants in Israel of the Ottoman railway’s eastern line, which carried forces toward the front against the British.[10] The neighboring Nahal Ha’ela has also been the focus of work to restore its course and create a public park.[10]

The National Library of Israel catalogs a Hebrew topographic map titled “Kiryat Malakhi,” created in 1995 and published by the Survey of Israel at a scale of 1:25,000.[19] The library’s newspaper index records the archived publication range of the Hebrew title Mah nishmaʻ Ḳiryat Malʼakhi as April 29, 2011, to July 8, 2016.[20]

News reports have described allegations of discrimination against residents of Ethiopian origin in Kiryat Malakhi. In January 2012, Globes reported that residents of the Bar-Yehuda neighborhood had signed an agreement with the neighborhood committee not to sell or rent apartments to people of Ethiopian origin. The report said the neighborhood comprised four buildings and more than 120 families. Mayor Moti Malka said he was appalled and would consider legal action and a police complaint if the reported claims were proven.[8]

In 2020, a report said a television broadcast had described Kiryat Malakhi police officers mocking and disparaging people of Ethiopian origin in a unit-wide WhatsApp group. It reported that demonstrators gathered outside the police station and that the station commander was removed from his position on election day. These are events and allegations as reported by the news source, not independently adjudicated findings in the available material.[21]

On November 15, 2012, during Operation Pillar of Defense, a rocket from Gaza struck the top floor of an apartment building in Kiryat Malakhi. The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center reported that three Israeli civilians were killed and six were wounded, including a four-year-old boy and two baby girls.[22] The World Jewish Congress described the target as a four-story apartment building, identified the victims as two men and a woman, and reported that the boy was seriously injured while the two babies were lightly hurt.[9]

The building was in the Har Chabad neighborhood, and two of the victims, Aharon Smadja and Mira Scharf, were members of the Chabad-Lubavitch community. Scharf and her husband had served as Chabad emissaries in New Delhi. The third victim was 24-year-old Itzik Amsalem; his funeral brought together mourners including Lubavitchers, Sephardic men, religious women, and secular Russian immigrants.[23] The city’s deputy mayor, Chaim Shteiner, helped search for remains at the strike site. The same report described the local Chabad community as having been established about 30 years earlier to reach out to a growing Russian immigrant population.[23]