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Opinion
& Comment
Observations: Building Codes for the Rich
by V. Itamar
The State of Israel has laws to define where construction is
legal and where it is illegal. A house cannot be built just
anywhere. There are nature preserves, protected areas,
coastal areas--in short, an ordered country that allocates
its land use systematically. This systematization applies to
everyone--unless you happen to have a lot of money. If you
are wealthy and you want to build an opulent mansion in the
middle of a nature reserve or on a public beach, the local
authorities are likely to succumb to temptation. The law
will be brushed aside, the master plans will have to wait
for the next generation and the mansion will go up as the
man of means sees fit.
A survey by Yediot Achronot reveals that Israeli and
other Jewish magnates received building permits in areas
that are normally off limits for construction. The main
qualifications are money, the right connections and a
prodigious military record. Sometimes, the survey reveals, a
little chutzpah will do the trick, as in the case of
a seaside luxury complex that reduced the shorefront to a
minimum, or in the case of luxurious single-family homes
built on open land throughout the country.
Thousands of acres of state-owned land were transferred to
private hands without issuing a tender or a leasing contract
of any kind, in order to build settlements on sites where,
according to the master plans, construction is prohibited.
In many cases in addition to construction, extensive areas
designated as nature preserves and scenic areas were fenced
in to provide space for gardens and pets or as open areas to
benefit the local community.
There are currently 60 secluded communities in Israel, 17 of
which were set up in the last three years. The Society for
Man, Nature and Law has filed a High Court appeal against
this type of illegal building, claiming that the State does
not enforce the Construction and Planning Law in the case of
these isolated communities. For now the High Court has put a
stop to the construction, issuing instructions not to build
new settlements until a ruling has been handed down.
What has already been built, however, need not be
dismantled. A number of ostentatious seashore projects along
the coast have damaged beaches in Herzliya, Hof Hacarmel,
Ashdod and other cities. Environmental organizations have
been waging campaigns against various plans slated for
construction, claiming that the local authorities issued
unauthorized permits, as in the case of Reches Hacarmel,
where seven luxury villas were constructed, tucked away
among trees in the heart of a nature preserve. They are
built along the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea, and
carry sky-high price tags. With enough available funds, one
can acquire a Swiss-style panorama or American-style
expansiveness right here in the heart of Israel. The law, it
seems, is also a matter of dollars and cents--or shekels and
agorot.
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