In December 2009, State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss issued a highly critical report of the improper handling of procedures and defective tender process by which plans were approved for a holiday village on the Palmachim natural beach area.
“Continuing to advance the resort plan would be unreasonable in view of the serious findings presented by the State Comptroller,” comments Amit Bracha, IUED’s executive director.
“The public outcry and the ongoing public campaign to save this last natural, untouched area of shoreline is a cry from the heart that should not be ignored.”
Over half a million residents of the towns in the vicinity of Palmachim treasure the beach as the last remaining undeveloped piece of shoreline in the Central Region.
“The Israel Lands Administration hurried to market the beach for tourism development at a time when the Coastline Protection Law (2004) was still before the Knesset,” points out Bracha. “By today’s standards and legal framework, the proposed holiday village would not have been approved.”
Bracha also points out that even if the developers adhere to their promise that “large areas of the holiday village will remain open”, the unique and unspoiled nature of the beach will be lost forever. “The backyard of a 350-unit holiday village will no longer be a ‘natural’ beach area. With only half a centimeter of beach per Israeli left undeveloped today, our children and grandchildren will experience the natural Mediterranean shoreline only on Youtube and the internet…”
Plans frozen Following Comptroller's report
In view of the State Comptroller's findings, the resort plans were put on hold until receipt of the Attorney General's opinion.
“Anyone who cares about our national landscape heritage is waiting on tenterhooks for the new attorney general to take a stand,” notes Bracha.
The Comptroller's report reinforces IUED's position that steps must be taken to minimize any damage to Palmachim beach and that the public's right to enjoy the beach and its natural environs should be upheld.
Attorney Keren Halpern-Museri of IUED, who has handled IUED’s Palmachim interventions and cooperation with grassroots protestors, adds that the State Comptroller's report validates IUED's long-standing argument that the Israel Lands Administration failed to fulfill its statutory role as a trustee of State land. Instead, the ILA sold off highly valuable state land designated for public benefit and transferred the fate of the unique site into private, business-motivated hands.
The State Comptroller’s report validated another central argument put forward by IUED that planning institutions failed to protect the beach environment, long recognized as a unique, limited natural resource designated for public benefit.
“The Comptroller's report reflects our position that the planning authorities and the Israel Lands Administration are public trustees in charge of public assets; they should have considered the public good and not promoted a plan that expropriates one of our important, rare assets - the shoreline.”
Extracts from the Comptroller's statements on the report's practical implications:
“The lease with the developer has not yet been signed…State authorities, chiefly the Ministry of Interior, the planning institutions and the Israel Lands Administration, must reassess the transaction to sell the land and consider…whether extending the validity of the contract with the developer serves the public interest of preserving the shore's environment and its accessibility to the general public.”
"I instruct that a copy of this report be forwarded to the Attorney General in view of the grave, significant factual findings exposed here."
A Good Word for the Greens
The Comptroller deemed it appropriate to commend environmental organizations involved in the Palmachim struggle as follows:
"I cannot conclude without praising and commending the actions of the environmental protection organizations; they have placed on the public agenda the issue of protecting Palmachim beach as regards the entire public, and have taken steps to catalyze discussion and examination of the issues. Their actions were worthy and appropriate."
