Merkaz Yael is a communal settlement

Communal settlement (Israel)

A community settlement is a type of town in Israel. While in an ordinary town anyone may buy property, in a community settlement the town's residents, who are organized in a cooperative, can veto a sale of a house or a business to an undesirable buyer....

 in the Ta'anakh region 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...

. It belongs to 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...

.

It was founded in 1960 as part of the program to inhabit the Ta'anakh region. It formed a regional center for the nearby communities Prazon

Prazon

Prazon is a moshav in the Ta'anakh region in northern Israel. It belongs to the Gilboa Regional Council.It was founded in 1953 by immigrants to Israel from Kurdistan as the second settlement in the Ta'anakh region after Avital....

, Avital

Avital

Avital is a small moshav in Gilboa, Israel that is ten kilometers south of Afula. It was founded in 1953 by immigrants from Iran, Turkey and Kurdistan who were part of the Moshavim Movement. In 2006, its population was 440....

, and Meitav

Meitav, Israel

Meitav is a moshav in north-eastern Israel. The name derives from Bereshit/Genesis 47,11: "Joseph ... gave them property in the best part of the land." Located in the Ta'anakh region, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gilboa Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 379.The moshav was...

.

The name "Merkaz Yael" was inspired by Yael

Yael

Yael is a character mentioned in the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible, as the heroine who killed Sisera to deliver Israel from the troops of king Jabin...

 (Judges 4:17), the hero of the battle against Sisera

Sisera

Sisera was commander of the Canaanite army of King Jabin of Hazor mentioned in the of the Hebrew Bible. After being defeated by Barak, Sisera was killed by Jael, who hammered a tent peg into his temple....

 in the Book of Judges

Book of Judges

The Book of Judges is the seventh book of the Hebrew bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its title describes its contents: it contains the history of Biblical judges, divinely inspired prophets whose direct knowledge of Yahweh allows them to act as decision-makers for the Israelites, as...

 and wife of Hever the Kenite, after whom another communal settlement nearby is namend (Merkaz Hever). This battle took place in the nearby region.