A particularly unusual indictment was recently filed against a young man who was caught picking a protected yellow nuphar flower in the Birkat Hanofrim National Park.
The young man refused the Parks and Nature Authority inspectors' demand to detain him for questioning and escaped from them. It also became clear that this was a repeat offense, and therefore, it was decided to submit an indictment against him in which it was stated: "The accused did not have a permit for his actions, in his actions, he damaged the national park and unlawfully and without a permit possessed protected natural resources."
The yellow nuphar is considered a perennial flower that grows in Israel in water bodies in the Hula Valley and in the sources of the Yarkon. Following the pollution of the water sources and the drying of the swamps, the flower became rare and considered protected.
The courts have previously ordered fines of tens of thousands of shekels for similar offenses.