Kinneret clean-up begins after litter-filled Passover holiday

The eastern shores of Lake Kinneret have seen an unprecedented degree of pollution during and after Passover due to the decision by the Golan Regional Council to close the beaches under its jurisdiction and withhold waste-disposal services. To address the issue, the authorities have mounted a clean-up operation scheduled to begin Wednesday.

The council now admits it has failed to foresee the extent of the environmental damage caused by its decision, which was made because the Israel Lands Administration (ILA) did not allow the council to collect fees from visitors.

The council is now demanding additional funding to clean up the pollution caused by its own decision. Council Head Eli Malka has asked the state to participate in funding the disposal of massive heaps of garbage that visitors had left in popular beaches such as Levanon, Kursi and Dugit. In addition, he is seeking more funds for the development of the beaches, which will include setting up showers, toilets and proper signage.

Another apparent benefit of the decision to allow visitors to pollute the beaches was found in the ILA's compliance with the council's demand that it be allowed to operate facilities at its beaches such as showers. According to Malka, the ILA agreed to allow the council to regulate the beaches for the next seven years. Up to the holiday closure, the ILA had consistently refused that demand.

The bone of contention lies in the ILA's refusal to allow the councils to regulate their beaches. This would include collecting parking and entrance fees from visitors. "There is no reason we should invest in the maintenance of these beaches if we're not permitted to collect payment from the public for their use," Malka says. "If the state wants open beaches, let it pay for their maintenance."

Yossi Vardi, head of the Emek Hayarden regional council which is also at odds with the ILA, backed Malka's move. "The Golan Regional Council did the right thing when it decided to close the beaches," he told Haaretz. Unlike his counterpart, Vardi decided to continue maintenance services at the 12 beaches under his jurisdiction.

Vardi is promoting a settlement for the regulation of the beaches, and is inclined to pass municipal auxiliary regulations that would help resolve the issue. Currently, the only such regulations that are applied around the beaches pertain to parking.

"There are about 19 different authorities dealing with the Kinneret, and they sometimes issue conflicting regulations. They act without coordination," council heads complain. Vardi says this produces some catch-22s and absurdities. "In the case of Tzinbari Beach, for example, we're allowed to regulate the beach on the condition that one-third of the beach is entrance-free. How on earth are we supposed to do that?" he complains.

The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI) also seems to support the local authorities' claims. "Maintaining beaches costs money, and the case of the regional council is not the same as that of councils near the Mediterranean, who are obligated to maintain their beaches," Nir Papai, in charge of the beaches and sea department at SPNI, told Haaretz. "We live in a time of privatization, and a compromise needs to be devised for the beaches. Free entrance for pedestrians and payment for vehicles seems like a fair deal."

Meanwhile, the contested beaches are still very much polluted and need the clean-up expected to begin Wednesday, eight days ahead of the start of the official bathing season.

Shlomo Katz, director of the Environment Ministry's Northern District, relays the importance of efficient waste disposal with just three words: "Litter begets litter." This is his explanation of the snowball effect through which the eastern shores of Lake Kinneret have become laden with garbage during the long Passover holiday.

He is referring to a well-known phenomenon: A small pile of garbage signals to visitors that they can go on to further litter their surroundings. "No one wants to be the first one to litter, but as soon as they see the first sign of garbage, they feel more comfortable disposing of waste there," a local inspector working around the Kinneret explained.