Graffiti vandalism on the Miron Synagogue in the Upper Galilee (Nadia Ezer, Israel Antiquities Authority)
Israel longs for tourists, but when tourists arrive they find tourist sites dirty and neglected.
This is not a new omission, and no one should be surprised by the serious report published yesterday (Tuesday) by the State Comptroller, from which it appears that "there is a persistent and long-standing problem of inadequate maintenance and cleaning in significant parts of the tourist sites in Israel, which is a barrier to the realization of the tourist potential of these sites".
The inspection was conducted by the auditor between January and August 2022. In a report of over a hundred pages, the auditor notes the survey of road guides that indicated low to moderate satisfaction with the state of maintenance and cleanliness of major tourist sites in Israel (they gave a score of 33 out of 100 to the state of maintenance of the restrooms ) and emphasizes that the Ministry of Tourism has been aware for years of the existence of the problem, its severity and its effects and the need to take action on the matter, but so far it has not taken the necessary steps to reduce it. The data shows that the guides are less satisfied than the tourists, as far as the physical condition of the tourist sites in Israel is concerned The critic cites a handful of the comments from the survey of the guides:
• "Monuments throughout the country - it seems that they are cleaned only in preparation for Memorial Day.
All around them is an indelible dirt."
"The forest and the grove - dirty. The beaches of the Mediterranean Sea - dirty. Old Acre - dirty, Nazareth - historical core - dirty. Roadsides and intersections - dirty. Tiberias - Promenade - dirty Nature trails - Nahal Kaziv dirty Free parking lots such as Hanita Forest, Mt. Achim, Carmel parking lots, Mount Miron - dirty."
"Many sites in the country (for example: Mitzpe Harel, Tel Tzuba, Tel Yavneh, Tel Beit Shemesh, Tel Anpah) have spikes. Others are dirty, lack toilet facilities."
"I travel a lot along the Kinneret circuit. The horrors of what is happening there, especially in the northern section. The situation is appalling."
"The area of the old city and the east of the city in general is very problematic in terms of cleaning and maintenance."
"The area of the Gate of Ashpots in Jerusalem looks like a garbage can. It's always dirty."
"Antiquities sites in the open areas (for example, on the side of Nahal Bokek or on the side of Nahal Zohar) with a very poor level of maintenance."
•"
"The entire southern part of Eilat beach up to Taba Pass is neglected. There is no continuous sidewalk, no toilets and showers in the camping area and trash cans scattered along the beach - a shame."
"Many parts of the Golan Trail are also not [maintained] in terms of cleanliness (for example: the Mount Odem area near the quarry, the Odem Forest, even though they recently conducted a major cleaning operation there, the overnight parking lots in the first section and in front of Ein Zivan are full of debris.
" Various trips full of trash: Mount Miron, the peony trail on Mount Hillel is contaminated with private, public trash, and construction products, there are trash piles in Hasharon Park, there are piles of trash on the Israel Trail in Nahal Tzipori." The kibbutzim and Ein Shok - where you see trash"; "Nahal Batza full of garbage, Nahal Jilbon full of garbage"; "Goren Park - full trash cans and scattered trash"; "Tel Jezreel. Very dirty."
Safety defect in Nahal Amud (Photo: Knesset Spokesperson, Office of the State Comptroller)
Low average score for the urban tourist sites
In the segmentation by types of tourist sites, it is evident that the lowest satisfaction of the travelers and guides is with the physical condition of the urban tourist sites, for which the travelers' survey received a low average score (66) and the tour guides' survey an even lower average score (53).
It also appears from the data relating to archeology and history sites, pilgrimage and religion, nature reserves and national parks, that in the traveler survey the average satisfaction with the physical condition of these tourist sites is moderate (73 - 76) and in the guide survey the satisfaction is low (56 - 58).
This, despite huge investments by the Ministry of Tourism and other government and public bodies in the development of tourist sites in Israel (approximately 1.2 billion NIS in the years 2011 to 2020). It is necessary to protect the tourist infrastructures and reduce the risks arising from the lack of appropriate maintenance," states the State Comptroller.
The auditor points out that over the years the Ministry of Tourism has identified the issue of maintenance and cleanliness of the tourist sites as a "critical risk" to the Ministry's activities and the image of tourism in Israel and that the components of maintenance and cleanliness are also weighted in the Quality of Life and National Resilience Index in Israel, necessary for the preservation of the tourist sites, to a large extent influencing visibility The sites and the tourist experience in them are an important element in realizing the tourist potential of these sites - both as an economic industry and as national assets of multigenerational value.
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Vandalism at Mitzpe Eran and Dovi Shamir (Photo: Knesset Spokesperson, Office of the State Comptroller)
The vandalism on KKL-Junk sites doubled
In an audit report also against the Antiquities Authority, which as of August 2022, 13 years after it published a policy document, "did not complete the formulation of a professional policy in the field of antiquities maintenance after the conservation phase, did not supervise adequate maintenance and did not perform it itself." It states that "therefore , it does not operate fully in accordance with the requirements of the Antiquities Authority Law." According to the State Comptroller, the Antiquities Authority does not even have a map of all antiquities sites in Israel and the state of their maintenance.
In its reply to the State Comptroller's Office from December 2022, the Antiquities Authority wrote that the state of maintenance of antiquities sites in Israel is "extremely difficult", and that "most of the sites that have been excavated and developed for tourism purposes, at a cost of hundreds of millions of shekels, are crumbling and being destroyed without conservation maintenance".
The authority emphasized in its answer that the responsibility for the management and operation of antiquities sites that are open to the public rests with the owners or holders of the sites, and today the director of the authority asks in every project from the body that owns the site to commit to bear responsibility for its operation and maintenance, and that the authority will act to promote the issue as it has already begun to do.
The visitor positively notes the Nature and Parks Authority for the attention it gives to the issue of site maintenance and its action to monitor the satisfaction of visitors to its sites.
However, the report shows that in the years 2019 to 2021, the inspectors of the Nature and Parks Authority gave 77 fines for dumping waste for a total amount of only 64,000 shekels. Only about a third was paid. For vandalism, inspectors imposed only one fine in these three years, while according to RT records C itself had 416 cases of vandalism on its sites in the same period of time.
The report shows that in 2021 the number of vandalism incidents on KKL-Junk sites doubled compared to the previous year to 396 incidents, and as of May 2022 another 151 such incidents were discovered this year.
Following this widespread phenomenon, there is a constant need to replace thousands of damaged items;
For example, in the Menasha and Sharon regions alone, 1,200 tables, 900 barbecue units, 900 signs and 360 playground equipment were replaced between 2016 and 2021 as a result of vandalism.
Another serious damage is caused to the forests as a result of motorized vehicles, such as ATVs that move in the forest areas and cause many hazards such as the breaking of new paths that cause erosion hazards, damage to trees and vegetation and landscape damage.
It turned out that nine inspectors work in KKL-Junk's inspection unit, but in view of the extent of the large and open areas KKL-Junk is responsible for, it also has difficulty with enforcement in the field of vandalism.
The auditor recommends that the Ministry of Tourism engage RTG, KKL-Junk, the Ministry of Jerusalem and Heritage, local authorities, as well as the Ministry of Finance, and participate with them in formulating a maintenance model and formulating ways to improve control over the maintenance of the sites under their responsibility, including the establishment of a joint forum for consultations, for the purpose of coordinating the establishment of procedures The priorities and for making decisions on joint activity, for the purpose of improving the ongoing maintenance of the tourist sites, for the prevention of deficiencies concerning safety, visibility, maintenance and cleanliness and for the need to preserve public investments in a long-term vision.
It is also proposed that the Ministry of Tourism initiate and operate an interface with the guides and the traveling public, being "field agents", to receive ongoing feedback on the state of maintenance and cleanliness at the sites and publish the findings and trends in this regard in order to increase transparency, their responsibility to the public and contribute to the repair and maintenance of The tourist sites in Israel.
A bathhouse at the Banias site where the monument is crumbling (Photo: Knesset Spokesperson, Office of the State Comptroller)
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