Judea and Samaria leaders have announced a plan for the establishment of a new national park on nearly 1 million dunams (247,000 acres) of land between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea.
The area in question begins in the west of Kochav Hashachar and extends to the Herodian national park in eastern Gush Etzion. The plan calls for the park to include approximately half the land bordering the Dead Sea, from Qasr al-Yahud—the traditional site of Jesus’ baptism—to the Darga and Hazazon ravines.
However, the Judea and Samaria leadership is skipping over the political questions and focusing on the practical aspects of establishing the new park. They say that the land in question includes a number of tourist attractions and would primarily draw day-trippers.
Local sites of interest to Jews, Christians and Muslims include the Mar Saba monastery, Qasr al-Yahud, Nabi Musa mosque and the remains of the Hasmonean palaces.
A formal plan, compiled following consultation with tourism directors, cites plans such as mobile restaurants, the promotion of a hotel site at the northern end of the Dead Sea, and a joint information and reservations center.
This article first appeared in Israel Hayom.