On the eve of the 56th Jerusalem Day of the liberation of the city, an initiative is being formulated to include within the framework of the Israel National Trail the more famous and significant heritage sites of Jerusalem, which are currently not included in the trail, which is more than 1,100 km long.
The person initiating the move is Yosef Speiser, a member of the city council for the "Awakening" faction, who even initiated a discussion on the matter at the last council meeting. Mayor Moshe Leon said at the same meeting that he would hold a discussion on the issue, "and if it is possible to change, we will gladly change."
Speiser guiding in the Jerusalem Hills, photo: None
Speiser notes that senior officials at the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel have expressed support for the move. "The current route of the trail in the capital," Speiser adds, "currently revolves only around the Jerusalem neighborhoods of Ein Kerem and Kiryat Menachem, so that travelers experience only a few kilometers from the city, without encountering major heritage sites such as the Western Wall, the Jewish Quarter, the Israel Museum, Mount Herzl or Yad Vashem."
According to Speiser, he has received many requests from many hikers and people from the Land of Israel with a request to update the route of the trail so that it will pass through those important Jerusalem heritage sites, which are "an inseparable part of the landscape and heritage of the country."
The Law of Jerusalem as the Law of Tel Aviv
Sources in the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel note that, as a rule, the Israel National Trail in its current form does not pass through urban areas.
However, Speiser responds by saying that "there are places that have been excluded, such as Tiberias, Hadera, Netanya and Tel Aviv, and if these are excluded, Jerusalem is not 'just another city,' and its landscapes are not 'more landscapes,' but sites from which we derive the purpose of our existence in Israel. The capital should be part of that exception."
Israel National Trail, Photo: Dov Greenblatt
Speiser, an archaeologist and tour guide, notes that "the route that already exists within the city, since 2015, the one known as the Jerusalem Trail, has become a joke and does not actually exist on any platform – neither on the ground nor on maps.
"It's not maintained, the infrastructure and trail markings aren't at the required level, and in fact it's a virtual trail, so we don't see many hikers in it."
Speiser believes that "drawing the route of the Israel National Trail within the city will attract more travelers to Jerusalem and contribute to the expansion of tourism, the prosperity of local businesses and the economic diversification of the capital."
The proposed new route includes the heritage sites "The Aquarium", the Biblical Zoo, the Railway Park, the First Station, the neighborhoods of Yemin Moshe and Mishkenot Sha'ananim, Mount Zion, the Jewish Quarter, the Western Wall, the market on David Street, Jaffa Gate, City Hall Square, Jaffa Street, Ben Yehuda pedestrian mall, Sacher Park, the Supreme Court, the Knesset, the Israel Museum, Mount Herzl and Yad Vashem.
The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel said that if the Jerusalem Municipality informs the trail marking committee that it is interested in promoting the initiative, the idea will be raised for discussion and examined professionally and to the point.
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