ISRAEL
Ambitious
Venture
Amnon Bay project
exploits the beauty of
the Galilee to help
farming settlements survive
Amnon Bay from the air.
ZE'EV FISHER
Special to The Jewish News
W
ith many farm-
ing settlements
struggling to
survive from
agricultural production, other
forms of income have had to
be sought from industry and
commerce.
In the Galilee, with its
natural beauty and religious
and historic importance,
tourism projects have provid-
ed a lucrative remedial solu-
tion for near-bankrupt
settlements.
The Amnon Bay project on
the northeastern shore of the
Sea of Galilee (Lake Kin-
neret) has been the most am-
bitious tourist venture to date
that the Jewish Agency's
rural settlement department
has inherited.
Covering a total of 600
acres, the leisure complex,
when completed, will include
a holiday village, swimming
area with water sports, a
large recreation park,
restaurant and sports
facilities, water slides and pic-
nic areas.
According to Ehud Suk,
tourism director of the Jewish
Agency-run project develop-
ment company Industry and
Tourism Ltd., Amnon Bay
will provide a livelihood for
70
FRIDAY, APRIL 13, 1990
families that would othewise
leave the Galilee.
"Tourism," he says, "is
enabling families in the
Galilee to re-examine their
their future prospects.
Without new jobs, Jewish
families will leave the region
for Haifa or Tel Aviv."
As well as bringing dozens
of new families to the Galilee,
it is hoped that Amnon Bay
will attract hundreds of
thousands of visitors.
Construction on the first
stage of the project began in
1986, with work on the beach
and leisure infrastructure.
The Jewish National Fund
carried out extensive land
reclamation work. In addi-
tion, a 91-unit holiday village
was completed in time for In-
dependence Day, with 200
rooms to be added. The
bathing beach for 2,500
visitors has been open for two
years.
The completed stage of the
project has cost $7 million, of
which the rural settlement
department has invested
more than $5 million. The re-
mainder came from the
Tourism Ministry and private
investors.
The beach and leisure com-
plex is being run by two com-
munity settlements, Karkom
and Massad, and two
moshivim, Kahal and Liv-
nim. Another four set-
tlements — Amnon, Cadarim,
Ravid and Moran — have the
option of joining the venture
at a later stage.
All of these settlements are
less than 10 years old and
each has between 25 and 35
families. Originally planned
as agricultural villages, the
crisis in the farming industry
at places like Kahal and Liv-
nim has compelled most
members to seek outside
employment to supplement
their income.
As well as bringing
dozens of new
families to the
Galilee, it is hoped
that Amnon Bay
will attract
hundreds of
thousands of
visitors.
In its short existence, the
Amnon Bay beach has proven
profitable. Thousands of
tourists from both Israel and
abroad have flocked to the
beach, which lies beneath the
rolling green hills of the
Galilee and looks out onto the
serene calm of Israel's only
freshwater lake.
The Jordan River forms the
eastern boundary of the site,
while several smaller
streams, the Or and Koah, in-
ersect the complex. Amnon
Bay takes its name from the
St. Peter's fish (amnon in
Hebrew), a local delicacy
found in abundance in the
lake.
Close to the ancient Jewish
settlements of Tiberias and
Safed, Amnon Bay is a
2 1/2-hour drive from Tel Aviv
and Jerusalem. Besides the
natural beauty of the sur-
rounding countryside, with
the snow-capped peaks of
Mount Hermon, the area also
has deep significance for
Christian visitors. Amnon
Bay nestles beneath Caper-
naum, where Jesus gave his
Sermon on the Mount and
performed the miracles of the
fishes and loaves.
The climate in the region is
another drawing-card.
Because the area is 200
meters below sea level, winter
temperatures rarely fall
below 60 degrees during the
day, while the average
temperature between October
and May is 80 degrees. Sum-
mers are hot, but cool winds
temper the heat.
"The Galilee is an impor-
tant destination for visitors
from overseas," explains Suk,
"both for its religious and
landscape attractions. But we
anticipate that most of the
visitors to the beach will be
Israelis."
Indeed, internal tourism
within Israel has become a
major market in recent years.
Affluence has increased and
more Israelis have sought to
get away from it all for a few
days in the Galilee or Negev.
Total projected annual oc-
cupancy at Amnon Bay is ex-
pected to be nearly 120,000,
of whom approximately 65
percent will be Israelis and 35
percent foreign tourists. Ac-
cording to these calculations,
the investment will have paid
for itself within seven years.
With the opening of the
holiday village, more than 70
settlers are now employed at
Amnon Bay. This number
will climb to 100 in two years.
This is an important in-
itiative of the Jewish Agen-
cy's rural settlement depart-
ment at a time when
unemployment in the Galilee
is rising. It is the most com-
prehensive and prestigious
tourist project undertaken by
the Agency, though one of
many such ventures in the
Galilee and Negev.
Much more is at stake than
combatting unemployment:
recent statistics revealed
that, for the first time, there
are more Arabs than Jews liv-
ing in the Galilee. Redressing
this demographic imbalance
is therefore a top priority for
the Zionist movement. ❑
World Zionist Press Service