The Ariel University Center
The Ariel University CenterIsrael news photo: file

Over the past three decades, the community of Ariel has grown from a cluster of tents on a hilltop to a thriving city recently dubbed “the capital of Samaria.” The town has 20,000 permanent residents in addition to a university center with 11,000 students, and continues to seek new residents.

Ariel began to take root in 1978, when a group of Israelis led by Ron Nachman decided to create a residential city in the hills of Samaria. Nachman chose the site of the new community due to its strategic location – Ariel lies between Jordan and Tel Aviv.

The community began as a cluster of tents with no paved roads or running water.

Today, Ariel is home to a sports complex, a library, 14 synagogues, a hotel, schools and daycare centers, and an industrial zone. It serves as a transportation hub connecting Samaria towns to central Israel.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu visited Ariel in January and declared it to be an “indisputable” part of Israel and “the capital of Samaria... the heart of our country.”

Ron Nachman, now Ariel's mayor, is determined to see the city continue to grow. Ariel has long been at the forefront of immigrant absorption – over 50 percent of the city's residents were born outside of Israel – and is now focusing on a new wave of aliyah (immigration), that from North America.

In order to draw new immigrants, the city has joined the Communal Aliyah and Absorption Project, which provides new immigrants with benefits such as employment assistance, financial assistance, and host families to ease the transition to a new culture. Its latest initiative is a Shabbat experience for potential residents, scheduled to take place in late April.