Cross-border pollution emanating from the Palestinian Authority in Judea and Samaria is causing more than NIS 3 billion in damage annually to the region, according to a new report published by the “Green Now” environmental organization.
Green Now director Barak Werker shared the findings of the report with Israeli Environmental Minister Idit Silman, Binyamin Regional Council head and Yesha Council chairman Israel Ganz, Regavim organization head Meir Deutsch and local residents in a news conference held at an abandoned quarry — now a garbage incineration site — near the Jewish community of Psagot.
The findings of the report come after years of field investigation which included surveys of environment hazards in Judea and Samaria and their severe health, economic and environmental impact.
The research involved mapping of the environmental situation throughout Judea and Samaria, covering water pollution, soil pollution and air pollution due to inadequate waste and sewage management, particularly in Palestinian Authority settlements.
Environmental experts quoted in the report said neglect and indifference have already led to fatalities and severe illness among both Arab and Jewish populations, impacts that cross political borders and affect all areas of Israel.
“Environmental hazards do not recognize or respect borders, nationalities or political agreements; they do not distinguish between borders of Judea and Samaria, the Palestinian Authority’s autonomous areas or sovereign Israeli territory,” the report said.
The economic damage, both direct and indirect, caused by environmental abuse in Judea and Samaria, is estimated at a minimum of NIS 2.6 billion annually, according to Green Now.
In contrast, the investment required to establish and operate a sustainable system for waste and sewage management is estimated at NIS 3 billion — in other words, the investment would shortly pay for itself while yielding a significant benefit to Israel’s economy from investment in prevention.
“The Ministry of Environmental Protection is vigorously promoting a plan to implement environmental governance in Judea and Samaria, to combat the illegal Palestinian takeover of land and environmental destruction of the region,” Silman said.
“The Palestinian Authority has been committing both deliberate and negligent environmental abuse, shirking its responsibilities for years, which has created environmental hazards and cross-border pollution that constitute a serious and immediate health and environmental threat to all citizens of Israel, not only to the residents of Judea and Samaria, she charged.
“It is our duty to use all necessary means to apply Israel’s high standard of environmental legislation to Judea and Samaria.”
Gantz emphasized that residents in the region are suffering the health consequences of the pollution on a daily basis while the environment continues to deteriorate.
“Just as we understood that security threats should not be underestimated or entrusted to the Palestinian Authority or criminal Arab elements that have been given a free hand in the area, so too environmental threats must be taken seriously,” he said.
Werker lauded the Environmental Protection Ministry for “stepping up to address the environmental chaos in Judea and Samaria.”
Warning of a “failed paradigm,” Deutsch said Israel has been “lulled by the very same ‘conception’, the delusional belief that the Palestinian Authority will manage waste treatment and sewage effectively, the illusion that we can depend on them for solutions.”
The path to change, he said, “lies in asserting Israeli environmental sovereignty. It’s costly and challenging, but if we don’t act now, the consequences will be far worse.”
