Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut
Country: Israel · 97,097 inhabitants · Founded: 1986
Wikivoyage
Modi'in (Hebrew: מודיעין) is a relatively new Israeli city located in the Shfela, halfway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. There are some archaeological sites in the city as well as popular tourist attractions nearby.
Historically, the city is where the Maccabean revolt broke out, commemorated by the Chanukah holiday. The modern city was established as a planned city in 1997, and by now there are approximately 70,000 residents. Eventually the city may have up to 250,000 residents, as well as significant commerce and industry (for now, it is mostly a commuter suburb).
South of Modi'in is Latrun, a monastery and British Mandate police station, which was made famous in 1948 when its location controlled the road from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. With Jewish Jerusalem under siege, Jewish forces launched three unsuccessful attacks on Latrun in an attempt to open the road. In the end, Latrun remained under Jordanian control until 1967 (it's the finger of the West Bank that pokes into Israel), while the siege was broken by carving an entirely new road through the mountains south of Latrun.
Wikipedia
Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut (Hebrew: מודיעין-מכבים-רעות, romanized: Mōdīʿīn-Makkabbīm-Rēʿūt), usually referred to as just Modi'in, is a city in the Central District of Israel, about 35 kilometres (22 mi) southeast of Tel Aviv and 30 kilometres (19 mi) west of Jerusalem, and is connected to those two cities via Highway 443. In 2023 the population was 97,566. The population density in that year was 1,794 people per square kilometer.
The modern city, which was built in the 20th century, is named after the ancient Jewish town of Modi'in, which existed in the same area. Modi'in was the place of origin of the Maccabees, the Jewish rebels who freed Judea from the rule of the Seleucid Empire and established the Hasmonean dynasty, events commemorated by the holiday of Hanukkah.
A small part of the city (the Maccabim neighborhood) is not recognized by the European Union (EU) as being in Israel, as it lies in what the 1949 Armistice Agreement with Jordan left as a no man's land, and was occupied in 1967 by Israel after it was captured from Jordan together with the West Bank proper.