Israeli environmentalists, skippers battle over new marina plan

Oct 8, 2020

Ten days ago, on Sept. 29, the subcommittee for principle planning issues convened for an especially sensitive meeting. Architect Edna Lerman presented her grand plan for six new marinas to be built by 2030 in Nahariya, Haifa, Hadera, Netanya, Tel Aviv and Bat Yam. The plan also proposes to increase the berth capacity of Israel’s existing marinas along the shore of the Mediterranean.

The presentation of the project meant a lot to the cities and towns involved. It has been two years now that they have been pushing forward this initiative. With the coronavirus-induced economic crisis, they consider the plan crucial. The idea is to increase the number of yacht parking spots from some 3,000 to 10,000, or even 13,000 places. Apparently, the six cities that are hoping for new marinas have already applied for planning permissions. Other local municipalities — Rishon Lezion, Kiryat Yam and the Hof Hacarmel Regional Council — are currently considering applying for a similar permission.

The six cities already have the support of Transportation Minister Miri Regev. But for the plan to be accepted, they would also need the approval of the Planning Committee and Interior Minister Aryeh Deri. Backing the project, Regev wrote to Deri, “Since 2016, berths in Israel have been completely full. Israeli citizens who own boats are forced to search for available moorings around the Mediterranean and according to professional sources we are talking about 1,500 boat owners.”

Head of planning at the Adam Teva V’Din association (Israel Union for Environmental Defense) Yael Dori said that all construction in the sea — yacht berths, wave breakers, and so on — have serious environmental implications. In the case of Israel, she claimed, marine constructions are hurting the natural process of sand being pushed from the Egyptian shore toward Israel in the summer, and then back to Egypt in winter with the storms.

“The construction of the Herzliya marina, for instance, damaged irreversibly the beaches north to it. The beaches shrunk considerably, because the sand can no longer circulate back and forth. The Apolonia archaeological site just north of the marina is suffering. Sand is disappearing from underneath the cliff the site is built on, and the cliff is being eaten away by the waves. Parts of the site have already begun to crumble and fall off,” Dori said.