Mount Gilboa
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Mount Gilboa (Hebrew: הר הגלבוע) is a ridge above the Jezreel Valley in northern Israel. The ridge extends southeast-northwest bordering the Samarian highlands of the West Bank and the Beit She'an valley. The 'Green Line' traverses the Gilboa. The area is referenced in the Hebrew Bible, as in the Battle of Gilboa.
Every year, in early spring, the Iris haynei (Hebrew: אירוס הגלבוע, Irus Ha-Gilboa) flower grows on the mountain, and visitors from all over Israel come to see the purple flower.
There are two religious kibbutzim on the mountain, Ma'ale Gilboa and Merav, named after one of Saul's daughters, as well as a drug rehabilitation centre called Malkishua. Ma'ale Gilboa has in it a yeshiva (Talmudical school), Yeshivat Ma'ale Gilboa. Municipal services are mainly administered by the Gilboa Regional Council, although two villages are part of the Beit She'an Valley Regional Council.
The Israeli government had proposed a new community on the mountain, Mikhal named after Saul's other daughter Michal. However, environmentalists and other residents had been vehement in their opposition to this project fearing that Mikhal would destroy more green space and threaten the Irises which are unique to this area. Other opposition questioned the need of an additional village when the existing villages were themselves trying to attract new residents and expand.
Some towns in the United States have been named after it (see Gilboa).
