Mount Gilboa is a ridge

Ridge

A ridge is a geological feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for some distance. Ridges are usually termed hills or mountains as well, depending on size. There are several main types of ridges:...

 above the Jezreel Valley

Jezreel Valley

-Etymology:The Jezreel Valley takes its name from the ancient city of Jezreel which was located on a low hill overlooking the southern edge of the valley, though some scholars think that the name of the city originates from the name of the clan which founded it, and whose existence is mentioned in...

 in northern Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

. The formation extends from southeast to northwest, bordering the highlands

Highland (geography)

The term highland or upland is used to denote any mountainous region or elevated mountainous plateau. Generally speaking, the term upland tends to be used for ranges of hills, typically up to 500-600m, and highland for ranges of low mountains.The Scottish Highlands refers to the mountainous...

 of the West Bank

West Bank

The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...

 and the Beit She'an valley. The Green Line

Green Line (Israel)

Green Line refers to the demarcation lines set out in the 1949 Armistice Agreements between Israel and its neighbours after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War...

 between Israel and the West Bank runs south and west of the ridge. The Gilboa range is also the setting in the Books of Samuel

Books of Samuel

The Books of Samuel in the Jewish bible are part of the Former Prophets, , a theological history of the Israelites affirming and explaining the Torah under the guidance of the prophets.Samuel begins by telling how the prophet Samuel is chosen by...

 portraying Saul, Jonathan and David

David

David was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible and, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Saint Joseph and Mary...

.

Kibbutzim

The mountain has two religious

Religious Zionism

Religious Zionism is an ideology that combines Zionism and Jewish religious faith...

 kibbutz

Kibbutz

A kibbutz is a collective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economic branches, including industrial plants and high-tech enterprises. Kibbutzim began as utopian communities, a combination of socialism and Zionism...

im, Ma'ale Gilboa

Ma'ale Gilboa

Ma'ale Gilboa is a religious kibbutz located on the summit of Mount Gilboa, on the northeast end of the ridge of the Samarian hills in Israel. Located about 5 km west of Beit She'an, it falls under the jurisdiction of Beit She'an Valley Regional Council...

 and Meirav

Meirav

Meirav or Merav is a religious kibbutz located on the downward slopes of Mount Gilboa in Israel. Located about ten kilometres southwest of Beit She'an and less than 500 metres from the Green Line, it falls under the jurisdiction of Valley of Springs Regional Council , known until 2008 as the Beit...

, named after one of Saul

Saul

-People:Saul is a given/first name in English, the Anglicized form of the Hebrew name Shaul from the Hebrew Bible:* Saul , including people with this given namein the Bible:* Saul , a king of Edom...

's daughters, as well as a drug rehabilitation

Drug rehabilitation

Drug rehabilitation is a term for the processes of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment, for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and so-called street drugs such as cocaine, heroin or amphetamines...

 centre called Malkishua

Malkishua

Malkishua is a drug rehabilitation centre in the form of a village in north-eastern Israel. Located on Mount Malkishua in the Gilboa, it falls within the boundaries of Valley of Springs Regional Council. It is named after Malkishua, the son of King Saul, who fell here in the Mount of Gilboa...

, most likely after one of King Saul's sons, Malchi-shua. Ma'ale Gilboa has in it a yeshiva

Yeshiva

Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...

 (Talmud

Talmud

The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....

ical school), Yeshivat Ma'ale Gilboa

Yeshivat Ma'ale Gilboa

Yeshivat Ma'ale Gilboa is a Shiluv Yeshiva located on Kibbutz Ma'ale Gilboa in Israel's Gilboa Mountains. The Shiluv Yeshiva is unique in that it combines two years of Torah study with the full three years of army service. This is in contrast to students from Hesder Yeshivot, which only serve in...

. Municipal services are mainly administered by the Gilboa Regional Council

Gilboa Regional Council

Gilboa Regional Council is a regional council in northern Israel, located on the slopes of the Gilboa mountain range. There are more than 22,000 residents in 38 settlements as of 2007...

, 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

Michal

Michal was a daughter of Saul, king of Israel, who loved and became the wife of David, who later became king of Judah, and later still of the united Kingdom of Israel....

. However, environmentalists and other residents had been vehement in their opposition to this project, fearing that Mikhal would destroy more green space and threaten certain irises which are unique to this area. Others in opposition questioned the need for an additional village, since the existing villages were themselves trying to attract new residents and expand.

Vegetation

Every year, in early spring, the Iris

Iris (plant)

Iris is a genus of 260-300species of flowering plants with showy flowers. It takes its name from the Greek word for a rainbow, referring to the wide variety of flower colors found among the many species...

 haynei (Irus Ha-Gilboa) flower grows on the mountain, and visitors from all over Israel come to behold the purple flower.

Nature reserves

Two nature reserve

Nature reserve

A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...

s have been declared on the Gilboa ridge; The Irus Ha-Gilboa nature reserve in 1970, covering 7,280 dunam

Dunam

A dunam or dönüm, dunum, donum, dynym, dulum was a non-SI unit of land area used in the Ottoman Empire and representing the amount of land that can be plowed in a day; its value varied from 900–2500 m²...

s and the eastern Gilboa reserve in 2005, covering 18290 dunams.