Last update - 00:00 19/04/2007
Golan beaches on Sea of Galilee open after bureaucratic spat resolved
By Eli Ashkenazi, Haaretz Correspondent
An agreement was reached on Wednesday between the Golan Regional Council and the Israel Lands Administration (ILA) allowing the council to open beaches on the northeastern coast of the Sea of Galilee under its jurisdiction. The beaches will open Thursday for the start of the official bathing season.
The Golan Regional Council had closed its beaches due to a bureaucratic dispute which began when the ILA held up the issue of a tender for the operation the regional council's seven beaches, which include Kursi, Dugit and Duga.
On Wednesday, the ILA allocated the beaches to the council, thus ending the dispute between the two bodies.
As the beaches were officially closed throughout Passover, thousands of vacationers entered the beach without supervision, which led to large piles of garbage as well as the vandalism of beach facilities.
The council says the Interior Ministry promised funding in order to fix the damage done to the beaches.
Despite the fact that an agreement has been reached, many questions still remain regarding the management of Sea of Galilee beaches open to the public. Two months ago, the Interior Ministry established a committee to explore the issue.