“Tiberias Deserves to Return to Its Greatness”: Towers on the Sea of Galilee, New Hotels, and a Revitalized Promenade
Tiberias is launching an ambitious development plan featuring 7,000 new housing units, eight new hotels, and a promenade renewal. Mayor Yossi Nabaa emphasizes that urban renewal is vital to protect residents from potential earthquakes.
In Tiberias, they are dreaming of a different future: after years of ongoing neglect and political chaos, the city is trying to lift its head and redraw its future. The ambitious plan includes an investment of hundreds of millions of shekels in tourism rehabilitation, the construction of 7,000 new housing units, the building of eight new hotels around the Sea of Galilee, and a fundamental renewal of the promenade. However, alongside these development plans, Tiberias is acutely aware of its location on the Syrian-African Rift line and is pushing for urban renewal as a solution to save lives from a deadly earthquake.
“Urban renewal is not just another real estate project. It is saving lives,” says Tiberias Mayor Yossi Nabaa in an interview with “Mamon” and ynet, against the backdrop of the government's decision to expand aid for urban renewal in the north. According to him, hundreds of buildings in the city could collapse in an earthquake, but the urban renewal model in the periphery still does not receive a sufficient response from the state.
20 years of political chaos
Nabaa took office after years of instability. “We were after about 20 years of political chaos,” he says. Upon taking office, he decided to adopt almost entirely the plans promoted by the appointed committee, including the framework agreement signed with the state, to avoid losing years. At the same time, he added his election rival, Aviv Yitzhak, to the coalition to ensure the city moves forward rather than stalling.
The municipality's work focuses on four main areas: urban renewal, the framework agreement, and tourism development. In the field of urban renewal, 15 complexes are being promoted, with significant progress recorded in four programs. Nabaa argues that the state must adapt its tools for the periphery: “Even the district committee finds it hard to digest 30-story towers, but we are trying to find the balance. In the end, we reach 25 stories, because here it is first and foremost about saving lives.”
Tourism and security
Alongside residential construction, Nabaa presents a vision for restoring Tiberias's status as a tourist city. More than 200 million shekels have already been invested in renewing the promenade along the Sea of Galilee. “We removed all the stalls that were hiding the Sea of Galilee and built a new promenade. In Eilat, it took seven to ten years to clear the stalls; with us, it took 70 days,” the mayor notes. Around the Sea of Galilee, nearly eight new hotels are currently in the planning or execution stages.
The mayor also addressed the war in the north, noting that the city absorbed 16,000-17,000 evacuees. Simultaneously, about 90% of the shared shelters in the city have been renovated. Beyond construction and tourism, Nabaa marks another goal: employment. “We managed to attract three defense plants that are currently in the approval and land allocation stages. One of my biggest challenges is to bring more jobs to Tiberias,” he concludes.
