Nofim

Nofim carries locality code 3790 in Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics records and is classified as a Jewish rural locality.[1][4] It is placed in the Tulkarm subdistrict of the Judea and Samaria area and is administered by the Shomron Regional Council.[1] The council's 2023 profile states that it received municipal status in 1979 and contained 25 localities; these figures apply to the council as a whole.[5]

Nofim is situated near a hilltop by Karnei Shomron that overlooks Nofim itself, the neighbouring settlement of Yakir, and the Palestinian village of Jinsafut.[6] It is grouped within the North of Ariel settlement bloc alongside Immanuel, Karnei Shomron, Ma'ale Shomron, and Yakir.[7] A broader definition of the Ariel bloc also includes Kedumim, Bet Arye, Ofarim, Peduel, Alei Zahav, Brukhin, Barkan, Kiryat Netafim, and Revava. That area is described as approximately 47 square miles and as containing about 37,000 settlers.[3]

The Israeli government designated Nofim for national-priority treatment and listed it among threatened communities, with the Shomron Regional Council identified as its responsible local authority.[8]

Official Israeli records give 1987 as Nofim's year of establishment.[1][9] At the bloc level, an INSS study states that most communities in the North of Ariel bloc were founded from the mid-1970s through the early 1980s. It describes most inhabitants of the bloc as tied to Gush Emunim, characterized as a messianic political movement committed to establishing a strong Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria; it does not establish a separate Gush Emunim affiliation specifically for Nofim.[7]

Nofim attracted attention before its formal establishment. A 1984 press brief described a heavily promoted development of villas in Samaria whose builder went bankrupt and whom the government declined to bail out. The brief presented the episode as an example of the speculative and financially troubled character of the broader settlement boom, but did not identify the builder or give a precise date for the development or bankruptcy.[10]

A population table records 362 residents in 1999, 409 in 2009, 934 in 2020, 1,024 in 2021, 1,125 in 2022, 1,364 in 2023, 1,440 in 2024, and 1,586 in 2025.[2] This represents more than a fourfold increase over approximately 26 years.

Sources give different totals for 2022. The Jewish Virtual Library table records 1,125 residents, while the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics locality file records 1,174.[2][1] The latter figure comprised 1,171 Jews and others — including 1,134 people identified as Jewish — and 3 Arabs.[1] An Israeli government document recorded 690 residents in 2016.[8]

Earlier figures reflect historical snapshots rather than current counts. An INSS table listed 410 residents using CBS data drawn primarily from around 2009.[7][11] Encyclopedia.com recorded 414 inhabitants as of December 31, 2004.[9]