Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara published her opinion today (Thursday) on Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman's pilot program to schedule times for gender-segregated swimming hours at two natural springs during the summer.
Baharav-Miara wrote that she opposes the pilot program and stated that "legislative authorization is required for this."
Silman's pilot program would apply to the Enot Tsukim Nature Reserve in the northern Dead Sea and the Gan HaShlosha National Park. The program would only be in effect during the early morning before regular opening hours and so would not affect other Israelis or tourists visiting the springs.
The original plan had been for the separate-swimming hours to be in the evening after closing hours. This was changed following heavy criticism so that the swimming hours at Enot Tsukim would be during the daylight while still being outside normal operating times. The plan to include Gan HaShlosha in the pilot program was dropped and the Haniya Spring in the Judean Mountains National Park was substituted for it.
Baharav-Miara's opposition effectively kills the plan, as in Israel the attorney general's opinions are considered legally binding on the government, although that is not in the formal definition of their powers.