Highway 55 is an east–west
highway
A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...
in central
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
. Its Western terminus is in
Kfar Saba
Kfar Saba ( he, כְּפַר סָבָא), officially Kefar Sava, is a city in the Sharon region, of the Central District of Israel. In 2019 it had a population of 110,456, making it the 16th-largest city in Israel. The population of Kfar Saba i ...
, and it continues east to
Nablus
Nablus ( ; ar, نابلس, Nābulus ; he, שכם, Šəḵem, ISO 259-3: ; Samaritan Hebrew: , romanized: ; el, Νεάπολις, Νeápolis) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a populati ...
. Much of the road follows the eastern section of the "
Aphek Ascent", an ancient east–west trade route connecting the
Via Maris
Via Maris is one modern name for an ancient trade route, dating from the early Bronze Age, linking Egypt with the northern empires of Syria, Anatolia and Mesopotamia — along the Mediterranean coast of modern-day Egypt, Israel, Turkey and Syr ...
and the
Way of the Patriarchs
The Road of the Patriarchs or Way of the Patriarchs ( he, דֶּרֶךְ הֲאָבוֹת ''Derech haʾAvot'' Lit. ''Way (of) the Fathers''), is an ancient north–south route traversing the land of Israel. The name is used by biblical scholars b ...
.
The road passes near
Qalqilya
Qalqilya or Qalqiliya ( ar, قلقيلية, Qalqīlyaḧ) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank which serves as the administrative center of the Qalqilya Governorate of the State of Palestine. In the 2007 census, the city had a population of 41, ...
,
Alfei Menashe
Alfei Menashe ( he, אַלְפֵי מְנַשֶׁה, ar, ألفي منشيه, , ''lit.'' Thousands of Manasseh) is an Israeli settlement located in the seam zone on the western edge of the central West Bank. Its name is taken from the bible (De ...
,
Azzun
Azzun (also spelled Azzoun) (, from the root word عز ''′izz'' which means honor or esteem) is a Palestinian town in Qalqilya Governorate in the northern West Bank, located 9 kilometers east of Qalqilya and 24 kilometers south of Tulkarm. Accord ...
,
Karnei Shomron
Karnei Shomron ( he, קַרְנֵי שׁוֹמְרוֹן, lit. "Rays (of light) of Samaria") is an Israeli settlement organized as a local council established in 1977 in the West Bank, east of Kfar Saba. Karnei Shomron is located northeast of ...
and
Kedumim
Kedumim ( he, קְדוּמִים, Kdumim), is an Israeli settlement organized as a local council located in the northern West Bank. Founded on Hanukkah 1975 by members of the Gush Emunim settlement movement, it later became a local council. In ...
, and ends in Nablus.
After the
First Intifada
The First Intifada, or First Palestinian Intifada (also known simply as the intifada or intifadah),The word ''intifada'' () is an Arabic word meaning "uprising". Its strict Arabic transliteration is '. was a sustained series of Palestinian ...
and the blocking of the road by Palestinians in the late 1980s and early 1990s, a number of bypass roads were built, south of Qalqilya and north of Azzun. Today the road serves the 20,000 Jews along its route and the 100,000 Arabs who live between Qalqilya and Nablus.
External links
Court case regarding Highway 55 (Hebrew, PDF)
See also
*
List of highways in Israel
This is a list of Israeli highways. Besides highways in Israel proper, it includes highways in the West Bank and the Golan Heights, because the Israeli administration maintains them in these areas.
There are 48 designated Israeli highways. Most of ...
{{coord, 32, 10, 54, N, 35, 02, 39, E, scale:200000, display=title
55