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After a 15-year struggle, the Supreme Court decided Sunday
to deny a petition filed by real estate developers to build
on Ness Ziona's famous Iris Hill, cementing its status as
a protected asset of nature.
The hill was named a national park years ago, prompting
real estate developers to file a petition to lift the building
ban automatically applied to such areas. The petition cited
that the building permits which were given 15 years ago
should stand – Sunday's decision rendered them null
and void
Why all the fuss? The Iris Hill is home to the Iris atropurpurea
(purple Iris) – a rare sub- species of the Iris oncocyclus
family. The Iris atropurpurea is considered an endangered
plant; it grows only in Israel and is endemic to the Ness
Ziona, Netanya and Rishon Lezion areas alone.
The area also houses the last remnants of the once great
Gravel Hill – a one-of-a-kind natural phenomenon,
unseen anywhere else in the world, which once reigned over
the Israeli costal plane; only to be eroded by urban development.
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