In light of recurring fires at illegal waste sites in Judea and Samaria, the Ministry of Environmental Protection warns again that this is an environmental and health hazard directly affecting Israel’s residents. The Ministry calls for immediate approval of the required budgeting for the implementation of the national strategic plan to eradicate waste hazards and cross-border fires.
After exceptional pollution levels were measured in Shoham and seam-line settlements, the Minister of Environmental Protection issued an urgent appeal today (December 16) to the Minister of Defense Israel Katz and to the Minister of Finance and Minister in the Ministry of Defense Bezalel Smotrich, demanding they exercise all their powers for the immediate treatment of combustion sites and to prevent re-ignition. The appeal presented updated monitoring data indicating severe air pollution and significant exposure of residents to hazards originating from waste fires in the Judea and Samaria areas.
Idit Silman, the Minister of Environmental Protection: “The waste fires in Judea and Samaria are no longer just a hazard, but an increasing expression of environmental terrorism that harms the health of Israeli citizens every day. The state is committed to eradicating this phenomenon using budgetary and enforcement tools and to ending this reality of smoke and unbearable pollution. We demand the immediate approval of the budget so that the treatment can commence in full and without delay”.
The Ministry continues to implement on the ground the set of immediate actions approved in the amount of approximately 38.5 million ₪, including: strengthening enforcement on the ground, increasing air quality monitoring measures, site restoration, and rapid response in cooperation with enforcement and firefighting entities. Although these actions help reduce immediate damage, they are not a substitute for the full implementation of the long-term plan.
The Ministry emphasizes that in the absence of immediate budgeting for the plan, it will not be possible to stop the spread of the illegal fire phenomenon in Judea and Samaria and to bring about a systematic and sovereign solution to one of the most severe environmental hazards in Israel.
The Ministry calls on the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Finance to complete the required budgeting within the framework of budget discussions, to allow for the full treatment of the phenomenon and to protect public health and the quality of life of all the state’s residents.