Founded in the 1950s as a military outpost and then as a waypoint station for local miners and road workers, Mitzpe evolved into a small town when newly arrived Moroccan immigrants were unceremoniously placed there and told that they would "be living an hour and half from Tel Aviv." Over time, various other groups like part of the "Black Hebrew" community and various strains of the most recent Russian immigration from the early 90's, have also been placed in Mitzpe Ramon. Mitzpe Ramon remains small and somewhat struggling although a smattering of new age hippies and a variety of eco entrepreneurs have, over the past decade and a half, succeeded in turning the ailing town into something of a hip eco leave-the-city-behind destination. At the same time, there continues to be disonance between some of the town's original residents and the more recent arrivees.Today, Mitzpe acts as a stopping point for travellers going from the North of Israel to Eilat as well as catering to some of the soldiers stationed at the nearby military bases. The town has also developed into a unique eco-tourist destination as it boasts the highest air quality in Israel and a series of breathtaking landscapes. Mitzpe also provides a haven for various kinds of performance artists, new-age healers and desert enthusiasts. http://wikitravel.org/en/Mitzpe Ramon