One of the most popular tourist attractions in the Red Sea resort city of Eilat is in danger of being demolished by the government because its owners, one of whom is a government minister, never bothered to get a building permit.
Be'er Sheva Magistrates Court Judge Israel Akselrad last week upheld an administrative demolition order issued by the Southern District Committee against the owners of the Dolphin Reef, allowing 90 days for the destruction to be completed under the supervision of the Nature and Parks Authority.
The order followed an earlier one issued by a Regional Committee in March 2008 to cease new construction being carried out at the site.
Minister Rafi Eitan (Gil Pensioners party), Roni Zilber (site manager) and several others built the attraction in the late 1980's, creating a magical experience for tourists who streamed to the site to be able to swim with the dolphins. The group of entrepreneurs received permission from Eilat Port to set up the site, but they never requested a building permit at the time nor did they apply for one in the years that followed.
Several years ago the State filed a criminal law suit against the group, including Minister Eitan, on charges of illegal construction but eventually backed down.
Last year, inspectors from the Nature and Parks Authority noticed some new construction on the site, including a new 375-meter wooden jetty. The inspectors dove into the sea and discovered a 3,750-meter net had also been put into place, ostensibly to replace an older one.
The Authority's inspectors maintain that the construction and the new net is causing severe damage to the fragile marine ecology at the site, specifically to the coral that is growing on the old net. The owners, Eitan among them, claim that the work was carried out after the net fell into disrepair and needed to be replaced. The net, he contended, had to be replaced for the protection of both the dolphins and the coral.
As it stands at present, the dolphins will be flown to a new home, reportedly in another country, if the situation is not resolved within the next 90 days.
The Dolphin Reef continues to operate as usual, however, and nothing about the attraction's impending closure is mentioned on the website, which encourages tourists to make their reservations for the numerous therapeutic and learning activities that are available.