In preparation for Israeli election day, we present a series of posts with a summary of the environmental positions of the parties running for the Knesset on the following topics: Open Areas and Beaches, Green Energy, Radiation and Global Warming, Sustainable Development, Recycling, Water, and Air & Industrial Pollution and Enforcement.
OPEN AREAS AND BEACHES
Green Movement – Meimad
1. Enlarge and nurture park and garden areas;
2. Strict compliance with orderly planning procedures, which give due weight to environmental considerations and involve the public in planning;
3. Instruct the Israel Lands Administration to work on managing open spaces for the benefit for the general public, based on environmental and social considerations;
4. Direct development towards built-up areas, avoid new development in the center of open areas and keep development far from environmentally sensitive areas;
5. Promote the declaration of nature reserves and national parks. Add the ecological corridors to the planning consideration in order to preserve Israel’s biodiversity;
6. Establish metropolitan parks and recreation areas in the heart of Israel’s urban areas, where natural and landscape resources are preserved and where leisure and recreational activity is possible for all.
Green Party
1. Define the uses of the open areas for each local authority. Emphasize not only the quota of open space but also their quality;
2. Anchor the protection of Israel’s beaches with a clear, energetic system of legislation. Change the Beaches Law so that the area where building is prohibited is increased from 100 to 300 meters. The beaches, their natural resources and wildlife will be preserved for future generations. The construction of additional coastal or maritime facilities, power plants, marinas and ports will not be permitted, other than the development of existing facilities;
3. Implement a national plan for caring for and rehabilitating Israel’s beaches. The plan will include, among other items: examination of technologies and the methods for caring for beaches, examine the need for the maritime installations that have been constructed to protect the shoreline, recommendations on policy for permanent and temporary buildings on the shore and a coastal unit of the Israel Police to protect the environment and enforce the law.
Hadash
1. Protect land from being taken over for the profit of real estate interests and wasteful use;
2. Stop the privatization of land, ensure that Israel’s land is used equally by all residents;
3. Make nature preserves and national parks available for public use, free-of-charge.
Israel Hazaka (Strong Israel)
1. Act forcefully and severely punish environmental offenders in all cases, including increasing forces for enforcement;
2. Encourage building upward and strengthening existing towns, avoid building new towns that damage nature and landscape resources.
3. Enforce the law that forbids building along the coast and the open beaches for the public, not for the economic interests.
Kadima
Protect open areas and prevent changing their zoning to permit construction in rural areas and in the center of the country.
Labor
1. Work towards final passage and implementation of the law regarding the rehabilitation of the contaminated land, identify and mark contaminated areas, have them cleansed by whoever contaminated them and make the rehabilitation of the contaminated land a prior condition for construction on and development of these lands;
2. Consolidate and implement a plan to save the Dead Sea, promote unhindered access and prevent construction along the Mediterranean coast, the Palmachim coast, the Kinneret and the Red Sea, insure effective enforcement of the law prohibiting driving on beaches.
New Movement- Meretz
1. Preserve open areas through reconsideration, in-depth discussion and even cancellation of plans that have already been approved for construction, paving roads and building infrastructure faculties;
2. Accelerate the Minister of the Interior’s declaration of dozens of nature reserves and national parks, where the declaration has been delayed;
3. Protect ecological systems, especially desert systems, natural forests, undergrowth, caves, streambeds, winter ponds, seacoast, the Kinneret coast, the Gulf of Eilat and the Mediterranean Sea;
4. This struggle will be conducted by an integrated system including research, customs, supervision, enforcement and education.
5. Fight against illegal sand miners in order to protect the endangered sandy habitats in Israel;
6. Supervise and limit construction contractors’ use of sand.
Shas
Enact legislation to protect nature, water sources and the coastline.
Israel Beitenu and the Likud do not relate to the issue of the open areas and beaches in their platforms.
This page translated by Shoshana Michael-Zucker.
This summary was compiled in Hebrew ::Bar Ilan Environmental Clinic :: Chayim Usviva :: Translated by the greenprophet.com team.
