20, 1986. The first mayor was Baruch Venger, followed by Adi Eldar, who has remained in this position until Moshe Kuninsky took his place in 2018. 18,000 new immigrants settled in Karmiel between 1990 and 2002. And in the 2000s, some SLA families were resettled in Karmiel following the Israeli withdrawal from South Lebanon. During the Second Lebanon War in 2006, Hezbollah fired 180 Katyusha rockets into Karmiel and the neighboring villages, leading to casualties and damage to buildings, roads, and cars. Geography Karmiel is located on the Acre–Safed road, on the northern edge of the Lower Galilee. It lies in the Beit HaKerem Valley and its elevation is . The Hilazon Stream passes slightly to the south of Karmiel. Its tributaries, the Shezor and Shagor Streams pass through Karmiel on the east and north, respectively. Karmiel sits on the Shagor mountain range, which stretches from Mount Hazon in the east (, next to Maghar) to Mount Gilon in the west (, at Gilon). Western Karmiel was built on the Karmi (362 m) and Makosh (315 m) mountains. Work on a new railway line linking Haifa and Karmiel began in 2011 and opened in 2017. Demographics , the city encompasses an area of about 24 km2 with a population of about 50,000 residents approximately 40% of whom are immigrants from 75 countries. The city also receives significant internal migration of Haredi families. Since 1990, 16,000 immigrants have arrived in Karmiel, the majority of whom are from the Former Soviet Union. According to the national master plan, by 2020 Karmiel will have a population of approximately 120,000 residents. Since 1980, six new neighborhoods have been developed and populated, and a technical college has been serving the community since 1989. , work is underway to create a further neighborhood on Mount Karmi on Karmiel's western fringe. According to The Times of Israel, Israeli Arabs "...now constitute around six percent of Karmiel's population - around 2,760 people..." The Israel Democracy Institute report of 2018, as quoted in The Times of Israel, suggests Karmiel is one of a number of cities, 'in the process of being mixed', and reflects the upward mobility of some Arab Israelis, who seek to move into predominantly Jewish towns and cities, which do not suffer from a lack of government planning and construction. Local government Municipality The local government is the Municipality of Karmiel, which is responsible for all