The animals will not become extinct: a dramatic decision in favor of nature in Israel Israel today

"It's something crazy, it's like being in outer space"

: this is how cave researcher Boaz Langford described the interior of Ayalon Cave to us in a conversation we had with him and with senior cave researcher Professor Amos Frumkin.

This conversation took place a few weeks before the decision was made on the future of the cave and its life, which then seemed to be a complete destruction.

But now the joy seems great, as we learn that the future of this unique cave and of the life in which it is completely preserved, following the decision of the National Infrastructure Committee made today, according to which the rainwater that was expected to destroy the cave should be diverted to alternative sources.

Ayalon Cave is a very unique cave located in Israel, but it has and its life is significant on a world scale. 

Ayalon Cave // ​​Photo: Boaz Langford, Efi Cohen, Yonatan Mashaal,

Ayalon Cave was discovered during work at the Nesher-Ramla quarry in 2006, the quarry members did not know what treasure they had under their noses, but the cave researchers from the Center for Cave Research (MALHM) who entered the site were astonished to discover the huge cave (the third longest in Israel, about 2,700 m). 'Its length), the delicate ecosystem within it, and the life that takes place in it without any dependence on the outside world.Due to planned infrastructure works nearby, much water was supposed to be ejected into the cave area and destroy the rare life forms that exist in it.But all this is now behind us, When it seems that the decision makers have learned to take the words of the professionals and publications that have come up on the subject for attention and make the right decision and divert the water to an exchange place. 

Researchers in the Ayalon Cave // ​​Photo: Boaz Langford,

As stated, the Committee for National Infrastructures in the Planning Administration, headed by the Chairman of the Planning Headquarters, Shlomi Heisler, held a discussion today (Monday, 9/13/21) regarding the supplementary plan for the management of the runoff in the Ayalon River basin. ) In the Ayalon Basin alongside the plan to build a fourth railway in Ayalon.

During the transfer of the plan to the public in recent months, objections were received regarding the introduction of water in the Nesher quarry due to a unique ecosystem that was discovered in a cave at the bottom of the quarry.

Many researchers from academia in Israel and around the world have presented to Hotal data that pooling or infiltration will cause the cave to overflow with runoff water and drastically change the chemical conditions in the cave, which allow for the existence of the unique ecosystem.

Therefore, the committee instructed Netivei Israel, the initiator of the plan, that in a period of six months it will find an alternative site for collecting rainwater - instead of the Nesher quarry site where the Ayalon Cave was located. 

Cave researcher Boaz Langford during an activity in the cave,

The response of Prof. Amos Frumkin, Center for the Study of Caves, Institute of Earth Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, to the decision: Which made the required decision to prevent damage to the Ayalon Cave and its special wildlife.

We hope that environmental considerations will continue to guide the governmental and public system in Israel and lead to a better quality world that we will pass on to future generations.

We thank all the participants in the struggle and the general public who supported it. "

Creatures found in Ayalon Cave and from all over the world, exist only inside it, Boaz Langford

In a previous conversation we had with Professor Amos Frumkin and Boaz Langford, researchers at the Israel Institute of Earth Sciences at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, they told us about the cave: 

Frumkin: "The animals in the cave, do not exist anywhere else in the world. Beyond their uniqueness as individuals, they also create an environment that exists only in us, we have won from all points of this wonderful world, to be a country given the task of maintaining a system that simply has no parallel."

Langford: "This cave is a global sensation, no less. It is a system that does not rely at all on photosynthesis and sunlight, a very special place from which to learn essential things about the evolution of life in general, and evolutionary processes. It's something crazy, it's just like being in outer space. " 

Frumkin: "Seven species of animals were found in the cave, all new to science. One of them is a scorpion that is so different from everything we know that it was decided to define a new family in science following its discovery. The super predator in this cave is a shrimp called 'Somit Ayalon' Became extinct 7 million years ago. The Sumyats who found an extinction event on the surface of Ayalon Cave did not care, they continued to survive. Lives exclusively in the Ayalon Cave. "

Professor Amos Frumkin is a senior cave researcher in Israel, world-renowned and one of the leaders in the struggle to save the cave.

Somit Ayalon, lives exclusively in the Ayalon Cave, and is the super predator of the cave, Sasson coordinated the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

After the happy decision, we can only hope that in similar struggles in the future the authorities will have a sympathetic ear to the professionals working in the fields in Israel and around the world, nature lovers, and the many activists who helped this struggle for a precious national resource that survived millions of years before we were here. Even after us.