Ir Amim NGO and a number of prominent academics and civil servants petitioned the Israeli High Court of Justice (HCJ), asking the court to annul the agreement granting Jewish right-wing group "El-ad" the authority to manage the "City of David", a historic site outside the walls of the old city of Jerusalem.
The petition – filed against the Nature and Parks Authority (NPA), the Ministry of Nature Preservation, the Jerusalem municipality and the El-ad organization – asks the court to file an order nisi to cancel the agreement under which the park is managed by El-ad, and return the park's managerial authority to the NPA or another appropriate public body.
The petitioners claim that the situation in the City of David is unlike any other national park in Israel; no other national park in the country is managed by a private organization, with a clear political orientation and agenda.
According to the petitioners, the Nature and Parks Authority is obliged by Israeli law to manage all recognized national parks. However, the NPA delegated management of the City of David to El-ad without holding a tender, although it lacked proper authorization, and despite the fact this act was in violation of public regulations. Moreover, the NPA operated in violation of its public obligations when it refused to disclose the agreement it signed with El-ad in 2005, which transferred the park's management to the right-wing group.
The petition stresses that the fact that El-ad was given the authority to manage the park allows the group to influence the site's development, to select the type of information passed in the guided tours the park offers, to choose which public events will take place in the park, and to collect money from visitors for admission. The delegation of authority from the NPA to El-ad over this important historic and religious site, has given the group a political advantage, and allowed politicization of the messages circulated in the park. Moreover, it has affected the lives of Palestinian residents of the area.
