Israel is home to Haifa.
Haifa . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area , the second - or third-most populous metropolitan area in Israel . Since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 , the Haifa Municipality has governed the city . Two respected academic institutions , the University of Haifa and the Technion , are located in Haifa , in addition to the largest k-12 school in Israel , the Hebrew Reali School . It is home to Matam , one of the oldest and largest high-tech parks in the country ; Haifa also owns the only underground rapid transit system located in Israel , known as The Carmelit .