Highway 1 (, Kvish Ahat; ) is the main highway in Israel, connecting Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and continuing eastwards to the Jordan Valley in the West Bank.
Highway
Tel Aviv to Jerusalem
The coastal plain and Judean foothills
The route begins as a six-lane freeway as it splits off from the Ayalon Highway (Highway 20) just north of the Kibbutz Galuyot Interchange in Tel Aviv at an elevation of 16 meters above sea level travelling due south-southeast following the course of the Ayalon Stream. It then turns southeast, continuing past the 70 meter high Hiriya landfill, intersects Highway 4 and Route 412 and passes the Tel Aviv toll express lanes and park-and-ride facility. Israel Railways maintains tracks along the median of the highway along this section. A separate express toll lane runs along the three westbound lanes between Ben Gurion and Kibbutz Galuyot interchanges.
The road then makes an S-curve as it passes Ben Gurion International Airport and crosses north of the Ayalon Stream. Continuing south-southeast, the road intersects with Highway 40, the cutoff to Route 443 East and Highway 6 (Trans Israel Highway) North where it narrows to four lanes and rises to an elevation of 93 meters at Ben Shemen. Passing Ben Shemen, the highway descends slightly as it turns south-by-west, running concurrently for with Highway 6 providing access to Highway 6 South.
Leaving the Highway 6 concurrency, the road again turns south-southeast, travelling through the Ayalon Valley where it once again widens to six lanes and intersects with Highway 431 just south of Modi'in. At this point, Israel's longest bridge, part of the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem High-Speed Railway, can be seen in the valley to the north. The road crosses the Ayalon Stream and ascends to 250 meters as it briefly crosses the Green Line (the 1949 Armistice Line) for and back again at Latrun. The road then travels briefly alongside the Ilan Stream, approaching Sha'ar HaGai (The Valley Gate) at 300 meters above sea level. At the Sha'ar HaGai Interchange, an Ottoman caravanserai is visible on the south side of the highway.
Ascent to Jerusalem
Passing through Sha'ar HaGai, Highway 1 begins a pronounced ascent through the Judean Mountains at a point between the Mishlatim Ridge to the north and the Shayarot Ridge and the famous Burma Road to the south. Along this section, abandoned rusted military vehicles have been preserved along the sides of the road to commemorate the efforts of the armoured supply convoys that attempted to break through the siege of Jerusalem during 1948 Palestine war. Past Shoresh, the road reaches an elevation of 715 meters along the northern ridge of the Kisalon Valley at Kiryat Ye'arim (Telz-Stone). It then descends to 610 meters as it passes Abu Gosh while crossing the Kisalon Stream at Ein Hemed, and then again ascends, reaching 680 meters as it enters the Harel Tunnels, bypassing Mount Ma'oz and Castel National Park at Mevaseret Zion. At this point, the road descends to 610 meters, where it passes on the Motza bridge over the Sorek Stream and Valley, bypassing Motza.
Through Jerusalem
Now within the municipal limits of Jerusalem, the road continues northeast and begins the final ascent to the city. On the northern slopes below Har HaMenuchot, the road splits at Sha'ar Moriah Interchange, completed in 2007. Before 2007, Highway 1 continued its ascent via Ben Gurion Boulevard, negotiating three wide curves and three tight curves ending at the historic western entrance to Jerusalem at the beginning of Jaffa Road. Since that time, the road, as numbered now, descends from the interchange into the Valley of Cedars (Emek HaArazim).
In the Valley of Cedars, the road known as Jerusalem Road 9 passes through tunnels under a hill on the north side of the Sorek Stream. It then crosses the Green Line next to Ramot at an elevation of 630 meters as it intersects with Route 436 and Highway 50 (Begin Boulevard) at Yigael Yadin Interchange, becoming a four-lane divided highway with traffic-light controlled junctions. Travelling due east, the road, also called Yigael Yadin Boulevard, passes Har Hotzvim and Ramat Shlomo, ascending to its highest elevation of 815 meters as it intersects with the heavily congested Sha'ar Mizrach Junction (East Gate) at Shu'afat and French Hill. At this point, the road crosses the tracks of the Jerusalem Light Rail and intersects with Highway 60, marking the watershed of the Judean Mountains.