The trail entrepreneur, who commemorates the Israeli spy along the Golan Heights, is being sued by a hiker who is now threatening: "I will copy it elsewhere in the country"

• Eli Cohen Trail in the Syrian headquarters building in Conitra

  Photo: 

  Eyal Margolin / Ginny

Over the seven years since its launch, the Eli Cohen Trail in the Golan Heights has become particularly attractive and attracts tens of thousands of travelers a year. The road, which commemorates the Israeli spy, who was captured and hanged in Syria in the 1960s, is paved with potholes, which are now threatening his future, and he is in danger of closure.

Tour guide Gil Brenner says furiously about the chain of events: "It all started when a woman filed a tort lawsuit against the Golan Regional Council for injuring her ankle following a trip to one of the trail stations. So now the council, shamelessly, is suing me - a private person, through her insurance company as a third party '. 

The official trailer for the series about the life of spy Eli Cohen

"That is, if this woman wins a lawsuit, I will have to bear expenses with the Golan Regional Council. I have never guided her and it is my sin that I initiated the construction of the trail, which is free to enter. If the council does not remove me from the lawsuit, and if the trail is now exposed to lawsuits, I will copy it to the site. Another in the country, where the municipal authority will accept responsibility. "

In 2013, the guide Brenner, with sculptor Yuval Lofen of Kibbutz Ginosar, initiated the construction of the Eli Cohen Trail. The trail crosses the Golan Heights from the south to the north and passes through 8 strategic points, which Eli Cohen entered during his service in Syria for the Israeli institution. In some of the stations, statues were placed that tell Cohen's story, and in some explanatory signs were placed on existing buildings. The Golan Regional Council did not approve the construction of the trail, but over the years it has introduced it in its official publications as one of the most prominent tourist attractions in the Golan Heights and has never worked to enforce its establishment without a permit.

Nevertheless, the defense letter filed by the Council in response to the tort claim states: "Eli Cohen Trail was not established by Defendant but by Guide Gil Barnea - a tour guide with a Galilee tour business. Its establishment was done without a permit, approval or consent of Defendant The plaintiff (the injured traveler; the attorney) knows these facts well, but nevertheless acted in bad faith and sued only the defendant, who, as mentioned, has no connection to the path. "

The Golan Regional Council said in response that the trail had been erected without the council's approval, but admitted it had not opposed its existence so far. She promoted his arrival at the council's website "in recognition of its importance and to encourage the arrival of travelers". It was also reported that for the past year and a half, the head of the council, Haim Rokach, has been working to check with the government ministry and its institutions "options for developing and regulating the trail, including on safety issues." 

As for the tort claim, the council said it had contacted the insurance company as a liability, which in turn sued Brenner as a third party because its examination revealed that the hike had been guided by him and "who had set up the trail." Brenner denies instructing plaintiff. 

Regarding the legal liability of Brenner as the founder of the trail, it was stated that "The council unequivocally informed the insurance company that the trail is the responsibility of the Golan Regional Council and that Gil Brenner should not be held responsible for the condition of the trail and its sites. The Golan region views heritage tourism as a cornerstone and an important value in the Golan culture. "