The Coastline Protection Law (2004) - a landmark inenvironmental protection in Israel:

The enactment in November 2004 of the new law marks for IUED and the Coastline Coalition of environmental organizations the culmination of five years' hard work, and the end of a long and often bitter struggle to bring about a new legal framework for safeguarding Israel’s Mediterranean shoreline.

 

The law as passed is a derivative of the original version drafted by IUED and approved in its first reading by the Knesset in May 2002.

 

The crucial legislative initiative encountered some of the most highly organized lobbying efforts the Knesset has ever witnessed. Opponents to the law included: landowners seeking maximum compensation for any changes in land use resulting from the Law; the National Ports Authority, which wanted total exemption from the law; mayors of the 'Big 15' coastal local authorities who fear any limits on construction; and the Land Assessors Bureau, which has an interest in generating any real estate activity.

 

 

Where it started: Carmel Towers

 

IUED began pressing for a new legal framework to protect the beachfront in response to its first major court case against a Haifa developer in the 1990s. Through extended court action, IUED eventually blocked expansion of the Carmel Towers project where time-share apartments and tourist facilities were purchased for use as year-round, private residences.

 

The struggle caused IUED to begin drafting coastline protection legislation, and we were instrumental in ensuring that the new law is sufficiently rigorous to prevent local planning committees from ignoring such manipulations in the future.

 

The law approved by Knesset Members on August 4 (38 in favor, 1 opposing) was advanced as a government bill under the auspices of the Environment Ministry.

 

The law as enacted is less stringent than IUED's original proposal; instead of concrete principles for coastline protection, it includes declarative principles only. This means that future interpretation and implementation of the law are critical.

 

A new inter-ministerial, 17-person Coastline Protection Board has been created and all decisions taken by this committee will be key to the efficacy of the law in preserving the Mediterranean coastline.

 

Of the various representatives on the committee, prescribed by the law, the environmental sector (including NGOs, environmental professionals and the Environment Ministry) are in the minority. In cases of appeal, specific plans go before the appeals committee of the National Planning and Building Board.

 

One year later...

 

A year after the Coastline Protection Law came into force, the Coastline Protection Board is reviewing development plans as they are submitted. But, IUED warns, not all building plans are being submitted to the Board as the law requires. Moreover, no steps have been taken to launch a coastline protection fund by raising levies from developers and builders who have infringed upon the construction-free zone in the past. The delay is due to the Environment Ministry's failure to implement regulations under the law.

 

IUED's current focus is on pressing the Interior Ministry to use its authority to protect the public's right of free access to the nation's beaches. A petition to the Supreme Court sitting as the High Court of Justice is underway.