‘Capital of Samaria’ Ranked As Israel’s Safest City

A new poll conducted by Israel's Ministry of Public Security in order to determine the effectiveness of urban policing programs in 13 different Israeli cities found that residents in the city of Ariel, in Samaria, feel the safest from criminal activity.

Ariel is home to 20,000 residents, of whom 92 percent responded saying that they feel secure in their community.

Following Ariel were two cities located in central Israel that were tied – Givatayim, outside of Tel Aviv, and Bnei Brak. The northern city of Carmiel ranked fourth in that category.

The cities with the lowest sense of security were the mixed Jewish-Arab cities of Lod and Nazareth, with only 70 percent expressing that they felt protected.

"There is no internal crime or violence in Ariel," said Avi Zimmerman, Executive Director of the Ariel Development Fund to Tazpit News Agency. "Graffiti is as criminal as it gets here.