Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked announced this morning (Wednesday) that she will not allow the city of Yokneam to expand into the vast natural areas of the Peace Valley area. This, after a charged and long-standing environmental struggle of the area’s residents and environmental organizations.
“When I arrived on the tour, I was greeted by high school students from the area who demonstrated and asked not to build in the Peace Valley. And the truth is, they are right. There are other options,” Shaked wrote on her Facebook page. “So here it is, a sedative siren. I will not move the areas of the Peace Valley to Yokneam. This is a unique area, and we must preserve it. There are other solutions that will allow Yokneam to expand without destroying a beautiful natural gem like this.”
Shaked toured the territory of the Peace Valley yesterday (Tuesday) with the Mayor of Yokneam, Simon Alfasi, and the Chairman of the Megiddo Council, Itzik Kholovsky, to decide on the explosive issue that has been at stake for a long time.
Now that the decision has been made to leave the Peace Valley area as a nature reserve for the benefit of the entire public, the Ministry of the Interior and the Boundaries Committee will examine an alternative to the expansion of the city of Yokneam, which suffers from a shortage of residential construction. There are a number of alternatives on the table, including construction in the Bird area near Elyakim and the Hatishbi junction, and land in the area of the Hatishbi junction, near Yokneam HaMoshava.
A long-standing struggle
The Peace Valley area on the outskirts of Yokneam Illit is a green lung that attracts about a million hikers a year, along with many people with disabilities who visit the rehabilitation farm of the Latem Association, which stands in the heart of the valley.
The struggle to save the valley began in 2006 and has arisen several times over the years, with every few years a request is submitted on behalf of the city of Yokneam for a change of boundaries in a way that will annex the valley to the city.
In 2016, the mayor of Yokneam asked the Borders Committee to annex the Peace Valley area to the council area, to allow his city to expand as the population grows, and land reserves shrink. The residents of the valley area, as well as citizens from all over the country, who have visited the natural areas of the Peace Valley over the years, went out to fight against the possibility of covering the unique valley with concrete.
Yokneam asked to transfer land for construction from the Megiddo local council, and the Borders Committee was faced with several alternatives, including the Peace Valley area and Nahal Senin. About a year ago, the committee recommended building in the Peace Valley, but following the struggle, it reconvened last week to discuss the issue, and has not yet made a final decision.
Important ecological corridors
According to the Society for the Protection of Nature, which has joined the residents’ struggle, the valley areas are contiguous areas with important ecological corridors and herbaceous grasses rich in flora and fauna. The area is characterized by a unique bloom of colorful anemones, marsh irises, Lebanese calyxes and many other Israeli plants that are protected natural values. The Peace Valley also serves as a home for the Eretz Israel deer, which is defined as a world endangered species, with many birds including impressive predators such as the red falcon and the black-shouldered lizard, along with badgers, foxes, rabbits and porcupines. Therefore, the Society for the Protection of Nature demanded that the unique open space be preserved for the benefit of the environment and the many visitors who visit it.
The mayor of Yokneam, Simon Alfasi, welcomed Shaked’s decision and told Globes that in his opinion there are other areas that will allow the expansion of Yokneam without destroying the Peace Valley. “We do not want to build here,” Alfasi says. “The city of Yokneam needs to expand and needs an alternative land reserve. Nature is our favorite, we live in it, we have lots of parks and green spaces, and we will preserve them. In our opinion, construction should be allowed between Elyakim and Mevo Carmel Industrial Park. For several hundred housing units, I do not I will destroy one meter of nature. “
The headquarters of the joint struggle of the residents of Yokneam and Megiddo against the construction in the Peace Valley and Nahal Hashofet area stated: “We congratulate the Minister of the Interior, Ayelet Shaked, and the director of her office, Yair Hirsch, for making the right and just decision. A decision of distributive justice that will allow one million Israelis from all walks of life, who come to the place every year, to continue to travel for free in one of the most beautiful areas in the country, including people with disabilities for whom the area is accessible. “In a day of housing crisis on the one hand and a global climate crisis on the other, a decision that preserves the disappearing nature for the sake of future generations is a brave but committed reality.”