Haifa
[key], city, NW Israel, a port on the Mediterranean Sea, at the foot of
Mt. Carmel. Haifa is the chief city of N Israel and the country's principal
oil refining center. Along with Ashdod, Haifa is one of Israel's main
ports and handles oceangoing vessels, including oil tankers. Industries
include steel, shipbuilding, textiles, chemicals, high-tech electronics, and
food processing. Haifa is known to have existed by the 3d cent.
a.d. but was of little importance during early Muslim times.
The Crusaders, who called it Caiffa or Caiphas, developed it commercially.
Destroyed by Saladin in 1191,
it began to revive in the late 18th cent. The city's main growth occurred in
the 20th cent. with the development of its port. Haifa was contested by Jews
and Arabs in the 1948–49 war because of its industrial importance. By
the late 20th cent. the city's population was largely Jewish, although
Muslims, Christians, and Druze continued to live in the area. Haifa was a
target of Iraqi missiles during the Persian Gulf War and Hezbollah missiles
launched from S Lebanon in 2006. Haifa Univ. and the Technion (Israel
Institute of Technology; est. 1924) are there. Haifa is the world center of
Baha'i and the site
of the shrine of Bab and a Baha'i temple.
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