Tiberias-General Information

The city of Tiberias is located in the Lower Galilee, on the western coast of Sea of Galilee and has a population of some 40,000 residents. Following the establishment of the modern State of Israel, hundreds of new immigrant families were brought to Tiberias and settled in a tent city and later in the neighborhoods on the surrounding slopes.

Tiberias is unique in its historical and religious significance. Tiberias is considered one of the four Holy Cities of Israel (along with Jerusalem, Hebron and Safed). In addition, Tiberias is a tourist town whose main source of income and employment is the hotel and hotel services industry. In recent years the issues with security have led to a sharp drop in tourism which has had an impact on the socioeconomic situation and the education system. The recent war with Hezbollah has greatly worsened the situation, with missile attacks on the city that caused extreme damage to lives and property. The children in the city suffered the most, and are dealing today with issues of post-traumatic stress.

The city is rated 4 out of 10 on the Socioeconomic Scale of the Central Bureau of Statistics (10 is the highest rating). The proportion of individuals receiving a guaranteed income supplement is 130.8 per 1000 residents as compared to the national average of 76.7 per 1000 residents

About one third of Tiberias' population is under the age of 18, of whom about 12% are the children of new immigrants.  Of the total number of children, 15.4% are considered to be at risk.

The percentage of high school students who achieve matriculation is 44.9% (as of the 2004-5 school year) which is significantly lower than the national average of 59%.  Even more disturbing is that less than 8% of the students eligible continue on to higher education. The dropout rate from school is 6.1% which is higher than the national average of 4.8 % in 2004-5.