MK's daughter to be booted from nature reserve

The Israel Nature and Parks Authority and the Civil Administration ordered Yael Yisrael, daughter of National Union MK Uri Ariel, to leave her house in the heart of the Wadi Qelt nature reserve in the West Bank within 45 days.

Yisrael and her family started occupying an old building owned by the Nature and Parks Authority five years ago. The Parks Authority later appointed her inspector in the area.

Six hikers have been murdered in Wadi Qelt. One of them was Hagit Zabitzky, who was stabbed to death by Palestinian terrorists in 1997. After the murder, her friend Yael Yisrael, the daughter of MK Uri Ariel (National Union), decided to honor her memory by moving into a Parks Authority structure in the reserve, near the Prat fountain.

Other residents in the area are Bedouin and monks, who were living in the canyon before it was declared a nature reserve.

The Parks Authority claimed that it had not initially opposed Yisrael's presence in the park, since she had given hikers in the area a sense of security. But the park authorities last year informed Yisrael they opposed her living within the park boundaries.

The details of the injunction were released by the Nature and Parks Authority in response to a petition to the High Court of Justice made by Amir Navot, who resides in Upper Motza near Jerusalem.

In his petition, made against the Nature and Parks Authority, the IDF Civil Administration and the head of the Central Command, Navot demanded that Yisrael and her family be evacuated from the park.

In its reply to Navot's petition, the Nature and Parks Authority said several attempts had been made to get Yisrael out of the park on the basis of the danger involved in living in an area behind the Green Line, and due also to the illegality of her residence there.

After Yisrael did not respond to their requests, the Nature and Parks Authority and the Civil Administration decided to issue an injunction against her.

Nature and Parks Authority Director-General Ali Amitai met last week with Yisrael and informed her that if she did not respect the injunction, he would fire her.