Bethel Finance: Greens lose battle to block desert hotel near Eilat

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Bethel Finance news:
Environmental organizations have lost the battle to block a hotel project in Sasgon Valley near the Timna National Park, 30 kilometers north of Eilat, in the Arava. The Southern Regional Planning and Building Commission approved the project by developer Igra Group Ltd.

The Israel Union for Environmental Defense, Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, Green Course and local residents all opposed the project, whose approval contravenes the position of the Ministry of Environmental Protection. Minister of Environmental Protection Gilad Erdan asked the Southern Regional Planning Commission to approve an alternative plan further south. He said that a hotel in the Sasgon Valley would destroy its nature, vistas, and environment.

In line with a court order, the Building Commission told Igra Group to amend its plan, reduced its building rights to 24,000 square meters and limited peripheral projects, such as a swimming pool and recreational areas, in order to minimize the hotel's environmental impact.

The Israel Union for Environmental Defense said in response, "The court ordered the commission to discuss the environmental impact of the plan, but the commission members ignored the objective expert report, which concluded that no hotel should be built in the Sasgon Valley and pointed to a total violation of the public interest. As far as we're concerned, we will renew the struggle with all our power and demand that the issue go to the National Planning Commission, and if necessary, we will take legal action.

The Society for the Protection of Nature said, "The unique natural and landscape values of the Sasgon Valley must be preserved, and we will continue to act to preserve it and oppose the project in its current location. Since the commission rejected Igra's large plan and said there was no place in the Igra Valley for such a large project, the Society for the Protection of Nature calls on the developer to cancel the project in the Sasgon Valley and build it at an agreed upon site in the Timna area."