An open path to Lake Kinneret
Haaretz, Friday, December 8, 2006
By Haaretz Editorial
It does not happen often that clerks in the Interior Ministry and in the country's planning bodies respond positively to an initiative with mass appeal. It happened Tuesday, at a meeting of the National Council for Planning and Construction - the country's supreme planning body. The council approved an amendment to the National Master Plan for Beaches for the construction of an open, contiguous walking path along the shores of Lake Kinneret, without fences or gates. Its decision marked the completion of an initiative launched by youth under the aegis of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, which began forging such a path about two years ago.
This is an important achievement for the country's environmental organizations that proves that concerted action with an educational character can effect change even within national institutions. It complements the recent success by "green" organizations to suspend construction projects in West Jerusalem, in which the public also played a large role.
The sad state of Lake Kinneret is known to all, and the environmental organizations have done much to change it. Its shore has become a string of beaches to which entry fees are charged. Fences have been erected in defiance of the law and the collection of fees was carried out without the supervision of the Interior Ministry, and frequently in violation of legal guidelines regarding the collection of fees.
In effect, the state ceded its responsibility over the beaches of the Kinneret, despite the fact that there is no argument over its significance as a national resource. In addition to failing to enforce the Planning and Construction Law, the state suspended its financial aid to the local authorities for cleaning the beaches. The local authorities exploited this situation to charge entrance fees on the grounds that it was necessary to keep the beaches clean.
The attitude of the state began changing over the past two years in response to the public battle waged by environmental organizations and harsh criticism of its actions in the State Comptroller's Report. Nevertheless, the change appears to be slow and incomplete. A few fences have been removed and legal steps have begun against those who built them and charged fees illegally. These measures, however, have not yet changed the situation around the lake. Open and free access is still nearly impossible to find.
The national council's decision to adopt the Round the Kinneret initiative proves that at least the country's planning bodies realize the importance of free access to the beaches and that this path is a convenient way to open up many of them.
However, it must be remembered that creating the path is the real test. To do so, the state will have to provide financial resources. In addition, the enforcement authorities will have to be active in every place where the construction work is challenged by those who seek to preserve the fences and obstructions.
The law enforcement agencies must step up their prosecution of construction scofflaws even in places where the path does not pass, and resume giving money to the local authorities to keep the beaches clean. This will lessen the economic burden on the local authorities and take away their excuse to charge people to enter the beach.
