KKL-JNF: The plan would require extensive tree removal, disrupting the ecological continuity in one of Israel’s most popular nature areas, and reduce areas of the forest available for the public.
ByJERUSALEM POST STAFFAUGUST 29, 2025 12:07Updated: AUGUST 30, 2025 20:28
The planned expansion of Route 443 could cause severe damage to the Ben-Shemen Forest, the Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) warned.
Per the current proposal that was introduced by the national transportation infrastructure firm Netivei Israel (Paths of Israel), Route 443 will be widened, and several interchanges will be added to it.
The plan, announced by the KKL-JNF earlier this month, would necessitate extensive forest removal, disrupting the ecological continuity in one of the country’s most popular nature reserves and reducing the forest’s available public use areas.
Ben-Shemen Forest is one of the nation’s largest, but it has already been cut in half by Route 443, which serves as a main road connecting the Gush Dan area with Jerusalem, passing by Modi’in and Givat Ze’ev.
According to the KKL-JNF, the project itself is not inherently wrong. However, it should be used as an opportunity to help fix some of the damage caused by splitting the forest in half in the first place.
A proper approach calls for “environmental compensation,” which would involve returning forestland to the public in exchange for the land that would be lost for the project, as well as ecological crossings, according to the Israel land reclamation and development non-profit organization.
This would include building four overpasses for the two halves of the forest, with some for the public and others for wildlife, and widening the crossings to 200 meters instead of just 50m.
Route 443 would therefore not be as wide as the current project intends to make it.
“We are not against development, but this must be done in a way that balances transportation needs with the needs of nature and the public,” Adi Noy, the head of KKL-JNF central region planning department, said in a statement. “Ben-Shemen Forest is the state’s forest, and it must not be reduced to disconnected islands amid a sea of asphalt. We are proposing a solution that serves drivers, hikers, and wildlife: one that restores the lost green spaces.”
Opposition to the current plan also comes from the Nature and Parks Authority and the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI). According to Dr. Yariv Malihi, an ecologist with the authority, the wider and more densely populated highway will pose a significant obstacle to local wildlife.
In particular, the area is a habitat for the mountain gazelle, a highly endangered species that is protected under Israeli law, Ynet cited Malihi as saying.
What is the planned expansion of Route 443?
Beyond plans to expand Route 443, adding several additional lanes to it, six existing interchanges are set to be upgraded, and parts of the highway will feature designated lanes for public transportation. Further, a parking lot for buses will be built at the Shilat junction outside Modi’in, local media reported.
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