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National Parks, Nature Reserves, National Sites and Commemoration Sites Law, 5758-1998

חוק גנים לאומיים, שמורות טבע, אתרים לאומיים ואתרי הנצחה, תשנ"ח-1998

Published: 1998-04-05Consolidated Hebrew text as of 2023-09-18 · Last amended 2021-11-15✓ Amendment status checked against the Knesset legislation record on 2026-09-08
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Unofficial English translation — for reference only. It may contain errors or omissions and cannot be relied on as a legal text. Only the Hebrew text published in Reshumot is legally binding.More

This English text was translated from the official Hebrew using a range of translation tools, and it undergoes ongoing checks and updates. It is not a certified translation.

Despite these checks, it may contain errors, omissions, or imprecise renderings of legal terminology and cross-references, and it may not yet reflect the latest amendments. It cannot be relied upon as a legal text.

The Hebrew text as published in Reshumot (ספר החוקים) and on the Knesset website is the sole authoritative and legally binding version. In any discrepancy, the Hebrew text prevails.

This translation is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For use in legal proceedings, request a certified Expert Legal Opinion.

Chapter I: Interpretation

Definitions§

1.

In this Law –

"national park" means an area that serves or is intended to serve the purposes of recreation for the public in a natural setting or for the commemoration of values of historical, archaeological, architectural, natural or scenic importance and the like, whether it has remained in its natural state or has been adapted to serve those purposes, and which the Minister of the Interior has declared, in accordance with the provisions of section 22, to be a national park;

"nature reserve" means an area in which fauna, flora, inanimate objects, soil, caves, water or scenery of scientific or educational interest are preserved from undesirable changes in their appearance, biological composition or course of development, and which the Minister of the Interior has declared, in accordance with the provisions of section 22, to be a nature reserve;

"national site" means a structure or group of structures or part thereof, including their immediate surroundings, that are of national historical importance in the development of settlement in the land, and which the Minister of the Interior has declared in accordance with the provisions of section 38 to be a national site;

"commemoration site" means a site for the commemoration of Israel Defence Forces combatants and defence establishment personnel who gave their lives for the security of the existence of the State of Israel, for the commemoration of combatants in Israel's wars who fell for the establishment of the State of Israel, and for the commemoration of those killed in hostile acts, which has been declared a commemoration site;

"national commemoration site" means a commemoration site for the commemoration of Israel's wars of special significance in the history of the people or the State, declared pursuant to the provisions of section 45;

"corps commemoration site" means a commemoration site for the commemoration of combatants who fell in Israel's wars, by corps or formations of a distinctive character, declared pursuant to the provisions of section 45;

"local commemoration site" means a commemoration site for the commemoration of combatants who fell or of those killed in hostile acts, that is neither a national commemoration site nor a corps commemoration site, and which has been declared pursuant to section 47;

"antiquities site" has the meaning assigned to it in the Antiquities Law, 5738-1978 (hereinafter – the Antiquities Law);

"professional-scientific sub-committee" has the meaning assigned to it in section 14(c)(1);

"the Council" means the Council for National Parks, Nature Reserves and National Sites, established pursuant to section 2;

"the Plenary of the Authority", "the Plenary" means the Plenary of the Nature and Parks Authority as referred to in Chapter III, Section C;

"natural value" means any thing or type of thing found in nature or any part thereof, whether fauna, flora or inanimate, originating within or outside the territory of the State;

"protected natural value" means a natural value that the Minister considers worthy of preservation or in danger of extinction, and which the Minister has declared, in accordance with the provisions of section 33, to be a protected natural value;

"hostile act injury" has the meaning assigned to it in the Compensation for Victims of Hostile Acts Law, 5730-1970;

"the Nature and Parks Authority", "the Authority" means the Nature and Parks Authority established under section 3;

"the Antiquities Authority" means the Antiquities Authority established under the Antiquities Authority Law, 5749-1989 (hereinafter – the Antiquities Authority Law);

"military area" means real property held by the Israel Defence Forces or by another arm of the defence establishment approved by the Minister of Defence, as well as an area serving them as a training area, which has been approved as such by the Minister of Defence or by a person authorised by him;

"plan" and "planning institution" have the meanings assigned to them in the Planning and Building Law, 5725-1965 (hereinafter – the Planning Law);

"the Minister" means the Minister for Environmental Quality.

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Chapter II: The Council for National Parks, Nature Reserves and National Sites

The Council and Its Functions§

2.
(a)The Government, upon the proposal of the Minister, shall establish a Council for National Parks, Nature Reserves and National Sites, of the following composition:
(1)seven Government representatives;
(2)a representative of the Israel Land Authority;
(3)a representative of the Antiquities Authority;
(4)a representative of the Jewish National Fund;
(5)five representatives of local authorities, including representatives of regional councils, to be appointed by the Minister of the Interior;
(6)seven representatives from scientific institutions and public bodies with an interest in the natural sciences, in the protection of nature or in the preservation and improvement of the country's landscape – to be determined by the Government;
(7)four public representatives, including one representative of the public bodies concerned with environmental quality, from a list of candidates submitted by those bodies; for this purpose, "the public bodies concerned with environmental quality" means the bodies listed in Part 1 of the Schedule to the Representation of Public Bodies Concerned with Environmental Quality (Legislative Amendments) Law, 5763-2002;
(8)the Chairperson of the Plenary of the Nature and Parks Authority and an additional representative to be appointed by the Plenary from among its members.
(b)The Minister, after consulting the Council, shall appoint a chairperson for the Council from among its members.
(c)The Council shall advise –
(1)the Minister of the Interior and the Minister, each within the scope of his authority – on all matters relating to the implementation of this Law;
(2)planning institutions and local authorities – on the designation of areas as national parks, nature reserves and national sites;
(3)the Authority – on matters within the scope of its functions.

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Chapter III: The Nature and Parks Authority

Section A: Authority

Establishment of the Authority§
3.

The Nature and Parks Authority is hereby established and its seat shall be in Jerusalem.

The Authority – Corporation§
4.

The Nature and Parks Authority is a corporation.

The Authority – Audited Body§
5.

The Nature and Parks Authority is an audited body within the meaning of section 9(2) of the State Comptroller Law, 5718-1958 [Consolidated Version] (hereinafter – the State Comptroller Law).

Functions of the Authority§
6.

The functions of the Authority are to deal with and advance all matters relating to nature reserves and national parks, as well as to protect, supervise and cultivate natural and heritage values, including:

(1)to identify areas and sites for the purpose of establishing nature reserves and national parks;
(2)to initiate and plan the establishment of nature reserves and national parks, or changes thereto;
(3)to establish, manage, maintain, operate and cultivate nature reserves and national parks;
(4)to preserve and rehabilitate natural values in nature reserves and national parks and outside them;
(5)to supervise nature reserves and national parks and natural and heritage values, including supervision in respect of offences under the laws listed in the Schedule;
(6)to centralise documentation and registration of information in the fields of nature conservation and natural values, including the preparation of a site file for each nature reserve and national park, in the manner to be prescribed by the Minister, on the recommendation of the professional-scientific sub-committee;
(7)to initiate, conduct and encourage education, information and guidance activities in the fields of nature conservation and natural and heritage values, including activities to raise awareness in those fields among the general public and among pupils and youth in particular;
(8)to maintain international scientific relations in the fields of national parks, nature conservation and natural values;
(9)to conduct and promote research in the fields of nature conservation and natural values.
Powers of the Authority§
7.
(a)The Authority may, in accordance with any law, in areas under its responsibility pursuant to this Law and also in relation to natural values, carry out any action necessary for the performance of its functions and likely to advance the purposes of this Law, including:
(1)actions for the preservation and rehabilitation of natural, scenic and heritage values as well as national sites;
(2)development and cultivation activities, the arrangement of roads, the construction of buildings and installations, their management, regulation and operation; provided that such actions shall be carried out after conducting professional examination procedures of environmental effects and after public hearing, all in the manner to be prescribed by the Minister, on the recommendation of the professional-scientific sub-committee;
(3)the provision of services to visitors and hikers;
(4)the conduct and operation of supervision, including in relation to the commission and prevention of offences under this Law;
(5)the establishment of funds, the receipt of donations, estates, gifts and grants, and the receipt of loans subject to the approval of the Minister and the Minister of Finance;
(6)the establishment of corporations, on its own or together with others, or the acquisition of rights in existing corporations, subject to the approval of the Minister and the Minister of Finance.
(b)The Authority may initiate, plan and manage parks within the area of a local authority, upon its request or with its consent.
(c)Actions listed in subsection (a)(1) to (4), in an area that is an antiquities site, shall be carried out in coordination with the Antiquities Authority.
Report to the Minister§
8.

The Authority shall submit to the Minister, once a year, a report on its activities, and shall also be required to provide the Minister or a person authorised by him with information on its activities, whenever required to do so.

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Section B: Fees and Budget of the Authority

Entry Fees and Service Fees§
9.
(a)The Minister may, upon the proposal of the Authority and after consulting the Minister of Finance, prescribe entry fees, subject to the provisions of any law, for the area of a national park and the area of a nature reserve and for services provided therein; the Regulations may prescribe different rates as well as exemptions for categories of visitors.
(b)The Minister may prescribe provisions concerning the linkage of such fees to the Consumer Price Index as published by the Central Bureau of Statistics, provided that the linkage shall be effected whenever the rate of increase of the index is not less than 5%, or if six months have elapsed since the date of the last linkage, whichever is earlier.
(c)The income from fees under this section shall constitute income of the Authority.
Budget Proposal§
10.

The Authority shall prepare, for each financial year, a budget proposal showing the estimate of its income and expenditure; the budget proposal shall be submitted for the approval of the Government.

Amendment to Budget Proposal§
11.

The Government may, after the Authority has been given an opportunity to state its case, amend or cancel an item in the budget proposal of the Authority, and may also add an item thereto, if it finds that special circumstances so require.

Budget of the Authority§
12.
(a)The budget approved by the Government shall be the budget of the Authority for that financial year (hereinafter – annual budget); no amount shall be paid from the funds of the Authority except in accordance with that budget, and the Authority shall not incur any obligation except in accordance therewith.
(a1)The annual budget for the activities of the Authority shall be financed from the State budget and from fees paid pursuant to this Law.
(a2)The portion of the annual budget to be financed from the State budget, in accordance with the provisions of subsection (a1), shall be determined in the annual budget law within the meaning of the Budget Foundations Law, 5745-1985.
(b)Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a), if the Authority receives additional income, including donations, estates, gifts and grants, beyond the estimate set in the annual budget, the Authority may make payments and incur obligations from those amounts as well, after they have been duly approved as an additional budget and notice thereof has been given to the Minister; if the Authority receives funds from an audited body within the meaning of section 9(1), (2), (4) and (5) of the State Comptroller Law, beyond the estimate set in the annual budget, the Authority may make payments and incur obligations as aforesaid, if the expenditure has been duly approved in the budget of the audited body and notice thereof has been given to the Minister and to the Minister of Finance.

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Section C: The Plenary of the Authority

Composition of the Plenary§
13.
(a)The Authority shall have a Plenary of nineteen members to be appointed by the Government, on the recommendation of the Minister, of the following composition:
(1)seven Government representatives who are State employees, as follows: a representative of the Ministry of Finance, a representative of the Ministry for Environmental Quality, a representative of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport, a representative of the Ministry of Agriculture, a representative of the Ministry of the Interior, a representative of the Ministry of Tourism and a representative of the Ministry of National Infrastructures;
(2)seven members, to be appointed after consulting scientific institutions with an interest in the natural sciences, in the protection and preservation of nature, including experts from among the following fields: zoology, botany, ecology, archaeology, geology, geography, history, economics, and landscape architecture and conservation;
(3)four public representatives, namely: a representative of the Jewish National Fund, a representative of the Society for the Protection of Nature, a public representative with an interest in the fields of activity of the Authority, and one representative of the public bodies concerned with environmental quality, from a list of candidates submitted by those bodies; for this purpose, "the public bodies concerned with environmental quality" means the bodies listed in Part 1 of the Schedule to the Representation of Public Bodies Concerned with Environmental Quality (Legislative Amendments) Law, 5763-2002;
(4)a representative of the Centre of Local Government in Israel or a representative of the Organisation of Regional Councils in Israel, as agreed between them; if no agreement is reached, the Minister of the Interior shall appoint a representative from among them.
(b)The Minister, after consulting the Plenary, shall appoint a chairperson for the Plenary from among its members.
(c)The term of office of a member of the Plenary shall be 4 years, and the member may be reappointed for two additional terms of office.
Functions, Powers and Procedures of the Plenary§
14.
(a)The Plenary, without derogating from its other functions –
(1)shall determine the general policy of the Authority within the scope of its functions;
(2)shall lay down the lines of action of the Authority;
(3)shall determine the work plans of the Authority, approve the budget proposal prepared pursuant to section 10 and deliberate on its financial reports;
(4)shall monitor the implementation of the policy, plans and budgets of the Authority;
(5)shall direct the Director of the Authority;
(6)shall deliberate and decide on any other matter that it considers necessary for the performance of its functions.
(b)The Plenary may appoint committees from among its members and delegate to them any of its powers, except its powers under subsection (a)(1) and (2) and except the approval of the budget.
(c)Without derogating from the generality of the provisions of subsection (b), the Plenary shall appoint, from among its members, sub-committees as detailed below:
(1)
(a)a professional-scientific sub-committee of seven members, the majority of whom shall be appointed from among the members of the Plenary listed in section 13(a)(2), provided that at least four of them are experts, each in a different one of the following fields: zoology, botany, ecology and geology, if experts as aforesaid are members of the Plenary;
(b)the members of the committee shall appoint one of their number as chairperson;
(c)the committee shall advise and make recommendations to the Plenary of the Authority on matters of nature conservation and protection of natural values, and the prevention of harm to them as a result of development activities;
(2)a sub-committee for visitor absorption in nature reserves and national parks, which shall make recommendations and advise the Plenary of the Authority on matters of development for the purpose of public recreation; the chairperson of the committee shall be the representative of the Ministry of Tourism;
(3)a sub-committee that shall advise and make recommendations to the Plenary of the Authority on matters of education, information and guidance for nature conservation, natural values and heritage; the chairperson of the committee shall be the representative of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport;
(4)an audit sub-committee of at least three members, from among each of the categories of Plenary members listed in section 13(a), excluding the chairperson of the Plenary who shall not be a member thereof; the audit committee shall submit an audit report to the Plenary of the Authority at least once a year.
(d)The Plenary shall determine its own rules of procedure, meeting times and deliberation procedures, to the extent that these have not been prescribed pursuant to this Law.
Restrictions on Appointment of a Plenary Member§
15.

The following persons shall not be appointed as a member of the Plenary –

(1)a person who has been convicted of an offence involving moral turpitude or has served a sentence of imprisonment, and five years have not yet elapsed from the date of conviction or from the date of completion of the imprisonment sentence, whichever is later;
(2)a person who has a conflict of interests between his occupation and his membership of the Plenary; however, a conflict of interests shall not be deemed to exist if the very appointment of a person holding a position to the Plenary derives from that position.
Vacation of Office§
16.
(a)A member of the Plenary shall cease to serve before the end of his term of office in any of the following circumstances:
(1)he resigned by delivering a letter of resignation to the chairperson of the Plenary;
(2)one of the restrictions listed in section 15 applies to him;
(3)he has been permanently unable to fulfil his duties, and the Minister, after consulting the chairperson of the Plenary, has removed him from office by written notice;
(4)he has retired from the position by virtue of which he was appointed.
(b)The chairperson of the Plenary shall transmit to the Minister a letter of resignation as referred to in subsection (a)(1) within 96 hours of its delivery; the resignation shall take effect upon the expiry of 48 hours from the delivery of the letter of resignation to the Minister, unless the member of the Plenary has retracted his resignation before then by delivering a letter to the Minister.
(c)Where a member of the Plenary has been absent without justifiable cause from four consecutive meetings of the Plenary, the Minister may, after consulting the chairperson of the Plenary, remove him from office on the Plenary by written notice.
Validity of a Decision§
17.

A decision of the Plenary or of any of its committees shall not be invalidated solely on the ground that at the time it was made the place of a member of the Plenary or a member of the committee was vacant for any reason whatsoever.

Remuneration and Reimbursement of Expenses§
17a.

The Minister, with the consent of the Minister of Finance, may prescribe Regulations concerning the payment of remuneration and reimbursement of expenses to the members of the Plenary referred to in section 13(a)(2), to the member of the Plenary referred to in section 13(a)(3) who is a public representative with an interest in the fields of activity of the Authority, and also to the chairperson of the Plenary if appointed from among those members of the Plenary referred to therein.

Rules for Nature Reserves and National Parks§
18.
(a)
(1)The Plenary of the Authority may, in accordance with any law and with the approval of the Minister, prescribe rules for nature reserves and national parks for the purpose of performing its functions as set out in this Law, including rules concerning the conduct of visitors in nature reserves and national parks;
(2)rules under paragraph (1) may be general or specific to a particular national park or particular nature reserves; general rules shall be prescribed after consulting the Minister of the Interior, and specific rules shall be prescribed after consulting the local authority within whose area the national park or nature reserve is situated, as the case may be.
(b)Rules as referred to in subsection (a), concerning a prohibition or restriction on the entry or passage of vehicles, watercraft or aircraft, shall be prescribed with the consent of the Minister of Transport, and in respect of aircraft – also after consulting the Minister of Defence.

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LawEnvironmentAdministrative Law

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