Enforcement - bathing without lifeguard supervision
The trend of fines for bathers in prohibited places and during hours when there is no lifeguard on Haifa's beaches continues • Haifa Municipality: "Registration of fine options is done only as a last resort" • Many residents of Haifa are confused and feel taken advantage of and share their feelings: "It seems that the Haifa Municipality is looking for us in an attempt to find any way to impose fines" , they say hi here.
In recent times, we have received many complaints in Haifa, when more and more residents who go to bathe at the beach are fined 500 shekels by Haifa municipality inspectors.
This time they were 17-year-olds, who went to the beach after a day of school and when they got out of the water, inspectors were waiting for them and fined them - as mentioned, 500 shekels each. We heard the same story from the mouth of a Haifa resident who is a diving instructor by profession, who went in to swim at the student beach and when she came out the inspectors were waiting for her and imposed the fine on her. They are certainly not the only ones, many complaints like these we heard from residents who came to spend time at the beaches in Haifa, a pastime that ended in disappointment.
It is important to note that section 6 of the law allows a local authority, with the approval of the Minister of the Interior, to establish in a by-law provisions for regulating bathing in the sea, river, lake or swimming pool, to the extent that no provisions have been established in the law or in the decree based on it. Apart from this, the law also includes provisions regarding fines for those who violate the law or orders and by-laws issued pursuant to it, while stipulating that the fines collected for offenses committed within the scope of a local authority shall be paid to the coffers.
The Haifa Municipality informed Haifa:
The municipality of Haifa, through the beach department, has been operating lifeguard services on the declared beaches for the past three years, even during the winter season, in order to allow everyone to bathe in the sea safely and without risking their lives.
The lifeguard stations are activated, during the winter, at Zamir Beach [Station No. 3], Naut Beach in Kiryat Haim [Station No. 2] and Bat Galim Beach [Station No. 2].
Bathing without the supervision of a lifeguard is prohibited and dangerous, and therefore the municipality has placed prominent warning signs prohibiting bathing without the supervision of a lifeguard. In the meantime, the beach inspectors work to prevent bathing in prohibited areas while directing them to the declared beaches where the lifeguard stations are operated as mentioned. Registration of fine options is done only out of choice and as a last resort, after all warnings and attempts at persuasion to obey the provisions of the law have failed.
It should be noted that thanks to all of these and the professional and dedicated work of the lifeguards, after many years in which many citizens lost their lives due to prohibited bathing without the supervision of a lifeguard, not a single case of drowning was recorded this year on the declared and undeclared beaches of Haifa. Beach department employees will continue to be available to bathers and do everything to protect their health and lives.
May the municipality fine as much as possible. All the hooligans who are just looking to cause trouble will go to the Kiryat beaches and the Carmel Beach Council.
Make your skinny winter dipping in Atlit. Get lost in the background of the fortress, it's romantic.
There is a difference between protecting the lives of citizens and the directive to give a report at any cost. It's really ridiculous to see the inspectors chasing bathers on the beach near the hotels near the voucher which is quiet even when the other beaches are stormy.
Since the ridiculous instructions that the Haifa municipality gave regarding bathing in the sea during the Corona virus, I have no faith in the judgment of the municipality. I think that the municipality thinks more about making money from the fines than protecting the lives of the residents.
In order to restore the trust of the residents and get their cooperation, instructions must be given to the inspectors to act logically and not to take pleasure in threats and imposition of fines for nothing.
I hope that in the streams of Haifa it is still possible to walk and enjoy nature and in silence because in this sea it is no longer possible to be alone and enjoy the silence
I would suggest to network all the beaches of Haifa with lifeguard stations, including the nature reserve that is located there, it is very fun to swim and dive so that those who enter the sea will not be reported. A little bit of the city of Haifa, you cannot go to the sea to bathe or swim. Why is there no enforcement or buoys along the beaches in Haifa from fishing boats or jet skis that endanger swimmers and bathers
The sea belongs to the public, not to any municipality.
There is no such law, these are illusory regulations that the citizens have begun to take advantage of in order to fill their coffers.
Will surfers who enter an undeclared beach in the winter also receive a report?
How are they different? Surfing in the sea is also dangerous, SUP is also dangerous, kayaking is also dangerous.
This is a dangerous precedent for individual freedom in Israel.
The beach does not belong to the municipality - and by law, these belong to the general public.
How come Sharia will decide if a person is allowed to enter the sea!!!.
Give them the finger - they will take the whole hand, as far as the municipality is concerned - to give reports on everything possible, they will invent more delusional regulations.
We have to fight in the municipality for the freedom to live!!!
To the one who wrote: "Whoever chooses to take a risk on his life is his problem."
No, it's our problem when you enter the drowning statistics and then Israel's beaches are declared dangerous.
Anyone who breaks the law will be fined, period. You will learn the hard way that you are not in the jungle but in a state of law.
And if you break the law, you will pay out of your own pocket for the damage and the cost of the rescue and policing you cause.
That's how it is in North Korea. It's not far off today that a fine is paid for farting in a public place
Aria Pah. She really cares about the residents...
It is clear that what is behind this strange enforcement is to increase the municipality's income from nonsense that is easy to screw up the residents.
Haifa Chives = Tin Chives.
Carmel Beach has a breakwater, is accessible to the disabled, close to the Neve David and Shaar Aliya neighborhoods, has more available parking spaces, and is safer for swimming according to the retired beach manager, retired lifeguards, and actual lifeguard station manager.
All records are signed by the Carmel Beach operator.
A petition was sent to the mayor by registered mail by attorney Zohar and it did not reach its destination.
I wonder why.
All the information written in it is backed by facts
The blame in my opinion: the mayor's advisers only
A sea swimmer always swims even in undeclared beaches. So all over the world. The entry of motor boats into the 309 meter deep area must be maintained. (As performed by the dear Haifa rescuers.)
The general public should always swim in front of an active lifeguard shed as I do. when i swim alone (Until the orange buoy marking 300 meters from the beach.)
Let them say thanks that they got to get out of the sea and pay a fine and not with their lives.
A municipality that no longer knows where to steal money from. The sea is a public resource. Where is the enforcement on the roads? People travel like crazy and take human lives, but wading in the sea is not allowed.
All the best to the city that works to eradicate the phenomena of unsupervised bathing on beaches and prevents the risk of human life!! A law is a law and one must persist in upholding the law and eradicate law breakers
Why did they take the parking lot on Wegwood Street in Haifa in the center of Carmel and paint the entire right side blue and white? There was free parking and they took away citizens' parking for money..shame on you Klish and shame on Haifa municipality
A despicable and miserable decision. How many people drown in the sea during the winter months? One, two... and how many people are killed on the roads when they cross in places without a crosswalk? Where are inspectors and councils? Where is Cliche? What a jungle in the lower city with all electric bike riders without helmets, headlights and against the direction of traffic!!!
Shame on the Haifa municipality and its leader.
People got used to living in the jungle, where every animal does what it wants without considering the rules. It's the law of the jungle.
The more we regulate by law and enforce with fines, the better it will be for all of us who have to live in a functioning society. That is why Singapore succeeds, and Israel fails. Law + enforcement + punishment.
This is not the role of the municipality. Whoever chooses to risk his life is his problem
I wish I had everything in order and all the dishes were in order
Kudos to the beach division of the Haifa municipality, which imposes fines. May God bless you. This is how absolute order should be. Kudos to you too Einat. Shabbat Shalom.