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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Chapter VIII: Penalties and Enforcement Powers
Orders to cease harm or prevent harm§
54.
Where the Director has reasonable grounds to believe that harm, as referred to in section 30(d), is being caused in a nature reserve or in a national park, or that there is a high probability that such harm will be caused, without a written permit granted by the Director or otherwise than in accordance with a permit, the Director may order in writing the person whom he has reasonable grounds to believe is responsible for the conduct causing or likely to cause harm, to cease immediately the harm (hereinafter – cessation of harm order) or the conduct likely to cause harm (hereinafter – prevention of harm order), and may also give any other direction that appears to him to be necessary in the circumstances of the matter in order to bring about the cessation or prevention of the harm.
Administrative stop order§
55.
(a)Where the Director has reasonable grounds to believe that an act requiring licensing or a permit under any law, other than under the Planning Law, is being carried out in a nature reserve or in a national park without the required licensing or permit or in contravention thereof, he may issue an administrative stop order to the person responsible for carrying out the act or to a person acting on that person's behalf, directing him to cease the act immediately (hereinafter – administrative stop order).
(b)In respect of construction work being carried out in a nature reserve or in a national park without a permit under the Planning Law or in contravention of the conditions of a permit, the Director may act in accordance with the powers vested in him under section 233 of the Planning Law.
(c)The Director shall not issue an administrative stop order as referred to in subsection (a) unless 10 days have elapsed from the day on which he notified the relevant competent authority under any law concerning licensing or the permit of his intention to issue an administrative stop order, and the authority has not taken substantive steps pursuant to its powers to stop the act.
Legal status of orders and limitation§
56.
(a)The provisions of sections 21 and 22 of the Business Licensing Law, 5728-1968, shall apply, with the necessary modifications, to a cessation of harm order, a prevention of harm order and an administrative stop order.
(b)The provisions of sections 54 and 55 shall not apply to a rescue excavation as defined in section 30(c).
Penalties§
57.
(a)A person who contravenes a provision of sections 25, 33(c) or (d), 40 or 52(b), or who contravenes the provisions of section 30(d) and causes, by the harm, serious or irreversible damage, is liable to imprisonment for three years.
(b)A person who contravenes the provisions of section 30(d), or Regulations or rules prescribed pursuant to sections 18, 33(b), 49(d) and 66, or a condition of a licence or permit granted pursuant thereto, is liable to imprisonment for six months.
(b1)
(1)A person who does any of the following is liable to imprisonment for six months or a fine as referred to in section 61(a)(3) of the Penal Law, 5737-1977 (in this Law – the Penal Law):
(a)causes harm to the demarcation of a protected area carried out pursuant to section 36b(c);
(b)drives a vehicle in a protected area in contravention of section 36c, provided that it has been demarcated as referred to in section 36b(c);
(2)A person who commits an offence under paragraph (1) and thereby causes harm to a protected natural value is liable to imprisonment for six months or double the fine referred to in section 61(a)(4) of the Penal Law; for this purpose, "harm" has the meaning assigned to it in section 33(e);
(3)An offence under this subsection is an offence of strict liability;
(4)The provisions of sections 27 and 27b of the Traffic Ordinance [New Version] shall apply, with the necessary modifications, to an offence under this subsection.
(c)A person who does not comply with an order under sections 54 or 55 is liable to imprisonment for two years.
(d)A person who erected a monument in contravention of section 52(a) is liable to imprisonment for six months.
(e)A person who contravenes Regulations made under section 9, concerning entry fees and services, or under section 36, is liable to a fine.
(f)Where an offence referred to in subsection (a) is a continuing offence, the court may impose an additional fine as referred to in section 61(c) of the Penal Law, 5737-1977, or an additional period of imprisonment of seven days, for each day on which the offence continues, from the day on which the defendant received written notice from the authority of the commission of that offence or from the day of conviction, whichever is earlier.
(g)A court that has convicted a person of an offence under subsection (b1) shall have the powers vested in a court under section 11 of the Coastal Environment Protection Law.
Fine offences§
57a.
(a)The Minister, with the consent of the Minister of Justice and with the approval of the Interior and Environmental Protection Committee of the Knesset, may declare, by Order published in Reshumot (Official Gazette), an offence under this Law to be a fine offence; the provisions of section 221(d) of the Criminal Procedure Law [Consolidated Version], 5742-1982 (in this Law – the Criminal Procedure Law), shall not apply to the declaration of a fine offence under this subsection.
(b)Notwithstanding the provisions of section 221(b) of the Criminal Procedure Law, the Minister, with the consent of the Minister of Justice, may prescribe a fine rate exceeding the fine amount prescribed in that section for an offence under this Law that has been designated as a fine offence, and also for a repeated, additional or continuing fine offence committed by the same person, or having regard to the type of offence and the circumstances of its commission, provided that the fine amount shall not exceed ten per cent of the maximum fine prescribed for that offence.
Appointment of inspectors§
58.
(a)The Director may appoint, from among the employees of the Authority, inspectors for the purpose of performing the functions of the Authority under this Law.
(b)No inspector shall be appointed unless the following two conditions are met:
(1)the Israel Police has not notified, within one month of the Authority's approach to it, that it objects to the appointment on grounds of public security;
(2)the inspector has received appropriate training, as determined between the Director and the Israel Police.
Conferral of police officer powers on inspectors§
59.
(a)The powers conferred on a police officer under section 32 of the Criminal Procedure Ordinance (Arrest and Search) [New Version], 5729-1969 (in this section – the Ordinance), and under sections 23(a)(1), (2), (3) and (b), 67, 69 and 71(a) of the Criminal Procedure (Enforcement Powers – Arrests) Law, 5756-1996 (hereinafter – the Enforcement Powers – Arrests Law), and the powers conferred on a police officer under sections 2 and 3 of the Criminal Procedure (Testimony) Ordinance, shall also vest in an inspector in respect of offences under this Law and the Regulations and rules made thereunder, and the provisions of the aforementioned enactments shall apply to an arrest, search, seizure of objects and interrogation conducted by the inspector as if they were conducted by a police officer or a police officer, as the case may be.
(b)Without derogating from the provisions of subsection (a) –
(1)an inspector who has been specially authorised to do so by the Attorney General shall have the power of a police officer under section 15 of the Enforcement Powers – Arrests Law, as well as the power to apply to a judge for a search warrant and to conduct a search as referred to in sections 23 and 24 of the Ordinance;
(2)an inspector shall have the power to conduct a search without a judicial warrant on the person of an individual, in his belongings, in a vehicle, in a vessel, in an aircraft and in any other place not used as a dwelling, if the inspector has reasonable suspicion that a person has committed before him or has recently committed an offence of unlawfully possessing a protected natural value or an offence of unlawfully possessing a natural value taken from a nature reserve.
(c)The provisions of sections 33 to 42 of the Ordinance shall also apply to the seizure of objects by an inspector pursuant to the inspector's powers under subsection (a), and wherever in those provisions the expressions "police officer", "police officer of the rank of sub-inspector or above" and "police" appear, they shall be read as "inspector", "the Director" or "the Nature and Parks Authority", as the case may be.
(d)Without derogating from the provisions of subsection (c), an inspector who has seized a natural value in the unlawful possession of a person may return it to nature, or destroy it if the natural value is not alive or if there is no prospect of the continuation of its natural development.
(d1)In respect of an offence under section 57(b1), an inspector shall also have the powers vested in an inspector under section 12(e) of the Coastal Environment Protection Law, with the necessary modifications.
(e)The provisions of this section shall not apply to an inspector performing a function imposed on him pursuant to section 60.
Special powers§
60.
(a)A State authority, with the approval of the Minister responsible for the implementation of the law under which it operates, and a local authority, with the approval of the Minister of the Interior, may appoint an inspector as referred to in section 58, with the consent of the Minister, to perform supervision and enforcement functions under any enactment imposed by any law on the appointing authority, pursuant to the laws listed in the Schedule to this Law; notice of an appointment under this section shall be published in Reshumot (Official Gazette).
(b)No inspector shall be appointed as referred to in subsection (a) unless such appointment is consistent with the functions of the Nature and Parks Authority.
(c)In performing a function under subsection (a), the inspector shall act in accordance with the directions of the appointing authority, as given to the Nature and Parks Authority, and shall have in that connection the enforcement and supervision powers vested in the inspector under the enactment pursuant to which the inspector was appointed.
(d)The Nature and Parks Authority shall be entitled to carry out all administrative acts necessary for the performance of the enforcement and supervision activities under this section.
(e)The Minister may, with the consent of the Minister responsible for the implementation of the law in question, and with the approval of the Interior and Environmental Quality Committee of the Knesset, amend the Schedule.
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Contact Us →Chapter IX: Miscellaneous Provisions
Status of State lands§
61.
For the purposes of this Law, State lands shall have the same legal status as any other real property.
Status of the Authority§
62.
(a)For the purposes of sections 3 and 4 of the Civil Torts (State Liability) Law, 5712-1952, the Authority shall have the same legal status as the State.
(b)The Authority shall be exempt from property tax imposed in connection with real property declared to be a national park, nature reserve or national site; however, such exemption shall not apply to buildings within the boundaries of a national park, nature reserve or national site if they serve commercial purposes and services, other than services provided to the public without a special charge; for this purpose, an entry fee to a site shall not be regarded as a special charge.
Status of Authority Employees§
63.
The following laws shall apply to employees of the Authority as if they were State employees –
(1)the State Service (Discipline) Law, 5723-1963, except sections 19 to 30, with the following modifications:
(a)wherever "the Minister" appears, it shall be replaced by "the Minister for Environmental Quality";
(b)wherever "the Director General" appears, it shall be replaced by "the Director";
(c)wherever reference is made to a State employee, an employee of the Authority is also included;
(d)wherever reference is made to the State treasury, it shall be read as if "the treasury of the Authority" appeared;
(2)the Public Service (Gifts) Law, 5740-1979.
Savings Provisions§
64.
This Law does not come to derogate from the provisions of the Antiquities Law or the Planning Law.
Implementation§
65.
(a)The Minister is responsible for the implementation of this Law in all matters relating to national parks and nature reserves, including natural values, and to national sites.
(b)The Minister of the Interior is responsible for the implementation of this Law in all matters relating to the designation of areas, declarations and other provisions within his competence.
(c)The Minister of Defence and the Minister of the Interior are responsible for the implementation of this Law in all matters relating to commemoration sites, each within his own competence.
Regulations§
66.
The Minister, the Minister of the Interior and the Minister of Defence, each within his own competence, may make Regulations for the implementation of this Law.
Repeal§
67.
The National Parks, Nature Reserves, National Sites and Commemoration Sites Law, 5752-1992 – is repealed.
Amendment of the Antiquities Authority Law – No. 3§
68.
In the Antiquities Authority Law, 5749-1989, as worded on the eve of the commencement of this Law, in section 5(c) –
(1)instead of "by the National Parks Authority or the Nature Reserves Authority, as the case may be" there shall come "by the Nature and Parks Authority";
(2)instead of the closing part beginning with the words ""the National Parks Authority"" there shall come ""the Nature and Parks Authority" – as defined in the National Parks, Nature Reserves, National Sites and Commemoration Sites Law, 5758-1998".
Amendment of the Planning and Building Law – No. 46§
69.
In the Planning and Building Law, 5725-1965, as worded on the eve of the commencement of this Law –
(1)in section 2(b), instead of paragraph (5) there shall come:
"(5) the Director of the Nature and Parks Authority or his representative;";
(2)section 158 – is repealed;
(3)in section 224, after "or by the chairperson of the local committee" there shall come "and within the area of a national park or nature reserve as defined in the National Parks, Nature Reserves, National Sites and Commemoration Sites Law, 5758-1998, also to the Director as that term is defined in that Law,".
Amendment of the Wildlife Protection Law – No. 5§
70.
In the Wildlife Protection Law, 5715-1955, as worded on the eve of the commencement of this Law –
(1)in section 1, instead of the definition "Nature Reserves Authority" there shall come:
""the Nature and Parks Authority" – the Authority established pursuant to section 3 of the National Parks, Nature Reserves, National Sites and Commemoration Sites Law, 5758-1998";
(2)in section 11 –
(a)in subsection (a), instead of "section 23(a)(1), (2), (3), (5)(d) and (b) and section 67" there shall come "pursuant to sections 23(a)(1), (2), (3), (5)(d), and (b), 67, 69 and 71(a)";
(b)in subsection (b), instead of ""Director of the Nature Reserves Authority"" there shall come ""Director of the Nature and Parks Authority"", and instead of ""Nature Reserves Authority"" there shall come ""Nature and Parks Authority"";
(3)in section 15, wherever it appears, instead of "Nature Reserves Authority" there shall come "Nature and Parks Authority";
(4)in section 16a, wherever it appears, instead of "Nature Reserves Authority" there shall come "Nature and Parks Authority".
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