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Opinion | Lonely in the field Israel today

2021-12-04T13:34:13.092Z


The State of Israel is unable to digest a form of existence in the form of individual farms, and works to the detriment • Samson Farm, which takes care of grazing and is ecologically important, remains last • Will it succeed in the bureaucratic wall?


One last grazing farm remains in the Judean mountains - Samson Farm.

It is home to the Daromi family, who nurture it with dedication.

All the other farms - including the Shai Zeltzer farm in Steph and the Abashi Ya'aran farm on Mount Ya'ala - have been displaced in recent years, with a directive from the Israel Land Authority and backed by the courts.

In the last two weeks, the displacement decree has also been issued on Samson Farm, even if there is still a glimmer of hope for a solution, in a last-ditch effort, in front of the Israel Land Authority and the district committee in the Ministry of the Interior.

The Daromi family has owned the grazing farm for 39 years. Judging by the conduct of affairs, one might guess that if it had been a Bedouin family, the attitude of the authorities towards their status in the land would probably have been more flexible. The family came to the ground with the blessing of the institutions that sought a foothold in the hills of the Judean plain. In Western European countries, which excel in sensitivity to natural assets, they have learned how much human presence in it not only does not disturb the ecological balance, but also benefits it. In Israel, too, the competent institutions for the care of the forest and the open space - the Nature Reserves Authority and the Jewish National Fund - have learned with the great fires how much a person's presence in the heart of the forest and forest is necessary. It is necessary to prevent fires, to warn of their outbreak, to prevent illegal hunting and to prevent damages such as dumping construction waste.

Nevertheless, the authorities in charge - Rami and the planning committees - continue to oppose the existence of the farms. In a statement that "seasonal grazing is sufficient and there is no need for permanent grazing" (from the summary of the District Planning and Building Committee 202123 dated 28.10.2021). Defined in a national and district outline plan as “open space.” However, in practice the policy is implemented with a clear focus on grazing farms held by Jewish citizens.

Without Ackerstein, without a yellow gate

The Haaretz supplement (10.5.2019) brought the story of Israeli families who established agricultural farms in Portugal, after despairing of realizing this dream in Israel.

The Yaaran family is one of the families who told the supplement their story.

Avshai Ya'aran, a member of the kibbutz, a General Staff patrol fighter and his wife Bar, chose a natural lifestyle on a small farm in the heart of the woods in the Judean Mountains.

However, the planning authorities of the State of Israel, together with the Israel Land Authority, fought against it.

See it as a threatening combination in the heart of the forest of "residential, industrial and commercial".

Even when the issue was brought to court, the judges wondered where to find "industry and commerce" here.

The small dairy was chosen by officials in charge to be presented as "industry," and the small counter for selling cheese was seen as a "trading house."

From the point of view of the Israeli government, individual farms are a dangerous precedent for planning the district and national space.

The forms of rural settlement established in the country in the last hundred years - a kibbutz, moshav, or community settlement - left no room for another version in the form of a farm.

What was considered a common and well-known form of existence even in developed countries such as the United States, Australia and Italy - has not become a viable option for Jews in the State of Israel.

Only here is the farm branded as "individual farms".

Every Jew in the State of Israel who has chosen such a form of existence, inevitably finds himself in a way of life that is in an exhausting struggle with the state authorities.

In fact, there is no place in the State of Israel for a Jew who wants to live in the heart of nature, without an asphalt road, without Ackerstein sidewalks, without a security fence and a yellow gate.

Even if it commits total compliance with all ecological requirements, it will be considered an enemy in the eyes of green associations, led by the Society for the Protection of Nature.

For them, the harmony of nature must exist without the presence of man.

But the opposition of the various organizations is mostly focused on farms belonging to Jews.

A visit to the farm will clearly illustrate how, in terms of the environment, the presence of permanent grazing is more correct compared to seasonal grazing.

As for the fear that one day the farmer's sons will be counted on land to build a hotel - there is an appropriate solution in a lease that will determine the constraints on land use.

Nature reserve, life reserve

Opposition to the farm is backed by the national outline plan, which has zealously defined open spaces, including forests and woods, as spaces in which no development can take place.

This is what explains the large number of farms in Judea and Samaria, where the applicants for the individual farms find refuge from the planning fixation of the State of Israel.

Under the conditions of relative flexibility that still exist in Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley, an opening has been created for new forms of settlement outside the fences of the suburban settlements that are moving away from any rural sign.

In the face of the bureaucratic state wall, in recent years it has been the practice of farm people to blame the justice system and especially the Supreme Court.

But it is precisely on this issue that the government bureaucracy is primarily responsible for placing the obstacles, while the court has in quite a few cases been attentive to the plight of the farmers.

In this context, it is worthwhile to review Judgment No. 6944/11 in the Supreme Court, which was received following an appeal concerning the Shai Zeltzer farm on Mount Eitan near Steph.

The planning authorities and the Israel Land Administration are the ones who appealed to the Supreme Court regarding the Zeltzer farm, which was established with their consent in 1974.

During the hearings, the judges urged the authorities to find an agreed solution, and reasoned: "The case before us is a pathological case, its circumstances are unique and special. This is not a brat who got on the ground and took over illegally ... his activity contributes to forest conservation ...".

But officials insisted on not being flexible, and the fate of the Zeltzer farm was doomed to abandonment.

The court hearing did not revolve around the clarification of the evidence but the interpretation of the law, with regard to the degree of violation of a grazing farm for the existence of an area defined in the national outline plan as open space.

The officials' insistence on not being flexible was in line with the court's understanding of the law, and therefore did not ultimately rule in favor of protecting the farm.

The key to a solution in all the displaced farms was in the hands of the officials, but they chose to avoid precedents.

The key to rescuing Samson Farm is also in the hands of those officials at this stage, in the expectation that they will do kindness to the last farm.

With the arrival of winter days, it is recommended to hike to the farm hills south of the village of Uriah.

Every person whose land is touched by his soul will find there a life reserve and a rare nature reserve that the State of Israel, which seeks planning and law, has chosen to allow only its non-Jewish citizens.

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Source: israelhayom

All news articles on 2021-12-04

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