Jerusalem green group saves hilltop from developers

Mitzpe Naphtoach, to the city's west, is habitat for endangered gazelle.

By EHUD ZION WALDOKS
Jerusalem forest 88 (photo credit: )
Jerusalem forest 88
(photo credit: )
Ramot for the Environment triumphed in its legal battle last week against a plan to build 2,000 apartment units on Mitzpe Naphtoach - an open area on the western side of Jerusalem. Residents had argued long and hard for turning the area into a metropolitan park crisscrossed by nature trails. The hill is also one of the last remaining habitats for an endangered Israeli gazelle. Ramot for the Environment was established in 2001 by local residents in large part to fight the development plan. After seven years, the High Court of Justice last week upheld their claims that there had been too many irregularities in the development plan's approval for it to be legal. The development plan had been approved by the local planning council and even the national planning and building council. During the process, the NGO had gathered 4,400 signatures on a petition protesting the plan. Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch wrote in the decision that there were so many irregularities in the plan that court intervention was necessary. Therefore, she found it necessary to void the plan and return the land's zoning purpose to forestry. The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI) joined the legal battle against the development plan and was also a complainant. Haviva Shemer, who is very active in Ramot for the Environment and a complainant to the court, told The Jerusalem Post that "now that the court threw out the development plan, we can proceed with our plans to get Mitzpe Naphtoach recognized as a metropolitan park." Ramot for the Environment has already constructed a hiking trail which has been recognized by KKL and added to the "Jerusalem Trail."