Kiryat Malakhi

Qastina

Before the establishment of Kiryat Malachi, the Palestinian village of Qastina stood at this location. Qastina's population in 1945 was 890, and its economy was largely agricultural, with its people growing citrus groves and cereals. Furthermore, an elementary school for boys was established in Qastina in 1936, and by 1945 had an enrollment of 145 students. Students from the nearby Palestinian village of Tall al-Turmus also used to attend this school. Qastina also had one mosque.^[3][4]

During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, on July 9th, 1948, Qastina was assaulted by the Giv'ati Brigade. Today, only debris remains where the village once stood.^[3][4][5]

Establishment of Kiryat Malachi

Kiryat Malachi, literally "City of Angels" in Hebrew, was established in 1951 as a ma'abara (literal translation"}]],"parts":[{"template":{"target":{"wt":"lit","href":"./Template:Lit"},"params":{},"i":0}}]}">lit. 'temporary residential'), to house the masses of Jewish settlers who have arrived during the early years of the newly established State of Israel, many of them part of the Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries. The name was chosen to honor the Jewish community of Los Angeles, which contributed much of the funding for its establishment.^[6] It has been one of several development towns of the Negev, at that time being.^{[citation needed]}

Moshe Katsav, later Israel's 8th president, was elected mayor in 1969, at the age of 24. His younger brother Lior Katsav has also been a mayor of Kiryat Malachi; whilst Yosef Vanunu held the post from 1981 until the 1990s. The current mayor is Eliyahu "Lalo" Zohar.^[7]

On 15 November 2012 missile attacks were launched by Palestinian militant groups from the Gaza Strip as a response to Israel's Operation Pillar of Defense. These attacks resulted in the deaths of three residents of the city.^[8]