ISRAEL AT 50 Environmentalists sound alarm as unfettered growth continues

JERUSALEM, Nov. 17 (JTA) – Their deaths could be viewed as a wake-up call. Two Australian athletes, who fell with dozens of others from a collapsed bridge during Israel”s Maccabiah Games, died this summer after swallowing water from the Yarkon River that runs through Tel Aviv. Several others became seriously ill from ingesting what analysts described as a “deadly cocktail of chemicals and pollutants.”” In the aftermath of those deaths, outrage has given way to a more sobering reality as the facts about Israel”s environmental problems are laid bare. The Yarkon, as it turns out, is hardly an aberration. Virtually all of Israel”s rivers are either partially or heavily polluted. Rivers, however, are just the beginning. Air pollution in Israel”s major cities is reaching dangerous new levels, landfills are overflowing, water is growing ever scarcer and open spaces are rapidly disappearing under asphalt and encroaching urbanization. For years, Israeli environmentalists have warned against impending catastrophe, pointing toward decades of unfettered growth. Now, as Israel nears 50, the Promised Land stands in danger of turning into an environmental wasteland. “The rate of development and the way it”s being done threatens to destroy everything here,”” said Yoav Sagi, chairman of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, the nation”s largest environmental group. “If we do not act quickly to protect our most important and precious resources, the damage will be irreversible.”” Facing a long history of neglect, Israel stands at a critical threshold as it attempts to address a slate of existing or imminent environmental disasters. * If present consumption patterns continue, Israel will encounter crippling water shortages in the next 10 to 15 years. Agriculture will be hit hardest as more and more water is diverted to meet increasing demand for domestic uses. * Air pollution in most of Israel”s major cities exceeds levels that are appropriate for pregnant women, children, the elderly and sick. Environmentalists say that by 2010, some aspects of Jerusalem”s air quality could be as bad as Mexico City. * Open spaces are vanishing rapidly. By 2020, northern Israel is expected to become one of the most densely populated regions in the world. * Disposal of industrial toxic wastes and pesticides have contaminated soil and groundwater throughout the country. * Landfills are nearing capacity, prompting fears that no landfill space will be available in 10 years. Only 5 percent of reclaimed material is recycled. While other industrialized nations face similar problems, experts say Israel”s situation is exacerbated by its small size and concentrated population, scarce water resources, rapid economic development and lack of regional cooperation on environmental issues. The seeds of disaster can be traced to pre-state Palestine, when the Jewish pioneers began establishing a maximum geographical presence, Sagi said. Over time, the principle of expanding and building everywhere became an almost sacred task, and what he terms a “culture of development”” became embedded in the nation”s fabric. That mindset was illustrated by Zionist pioneers who sang about “dressing the land in concrete and cement”” – a grand design that, today, has a “nightmarish ring,”” Sagi said. Israel”s meteoric growth – the population has increased seven-fold since 1948 – is only partly to blame. Widespread apathy and a lack of awareness have greatly contributed to the problem. Environmental issues, moreover, have long been overshadowed by more pressing concerns about the nation”s security and survival. Nevertheless, there has been a gradual awakening of the public”s environmental consciousness in recent years. “More Israelis are beginning to care because it”s beginning to get to their backyard,”” said Zevi Kahanov, the Jewish National Fund-Israel”s representative in New York. While some have been galvanized by worsening traffic congestion, smog, water quality and waste disposal problems, others have been sensitized to environmental concerns as a result of more deliberate efforts. During the 1960s, for example, SPNI waged a campaign to get people to stop picking rare wildflowers. The effort succeeded in making the practice taboo. But the results ultimately proved mixed. “You would see thousands of people driving for miles just to come look at a landscape full of flowers, but you go there after everyone is gone, and you see garbage all over,”” said Zvika Livneh, a tour guide for the organization. The environmental movement, led by SPNI, has made significant strides in the past five years in raising public awareness through educational activities, public action, legislative advocacy, field research and hiking tours that emphasize the region”s ecological heritage. In fact, Israel”s first environment-oriented political party was established this month. The Green Party”s priorities include development of public transportation, encouraging recycling, cleaning up waterways and removing hazardous substances from urban centers.
The government, for its part, in 1988 created a Ministry of the Environment, which has been researching environmental trends, developing strategies for sustainable growth, promoting environmental regulations, fostering environmental awareness and directing public clean-up campaigns. “Israel is just now understanding the importance of environmental planning and protection,”” said Iftah Kramer, a spokesman for the ministry, which paints a less dire picture than the environmental groups. “We are now holding the status quo, and from this point, the situation will only be getting better,”” Kramer said, adding that budgetary constraints are the major impediment to addressing environmental problems. Pragmatic government and business leaders, emphasizing what they see as the more critical imperative of sustaining economic growth, absorbing new immigrants and satisfying real development needs, have created additional obstacles for environmental forces. The clash of priorities is illustrated by the controversial Trans-Israel Highway project, a proposed 12-lane superhighway that would stretch nearly 200 miles north from Beersheva. Proponents argue that the highway is desperately needed to ease traffic congestion. Environmentalists contend that it would exacerbate noise and air pollution, while attracting more development to open spaces. And in a country that already has one of the highest car to mile-of-road ratios in the world, they say it would discourage development of badly needed public transportation systems. The Negev Desert is another flash point in the battle over environmental preservation. Viewed as Israel”s last frontier, the Negev accounts for nearly two-thirds of the country”s total land area, but is home to less than 10 percent of the population. It was David Ben-Gurion, Israel”s first prime minister, who said, “Israel, to exist, must go south.”” Now, some segments of Israeli society have been promoting a plan to develop the Negev in order to help alleviate population and pollution problems in other areas of the country. The idea does not sit well with environmentalists seeking to protect Israel”s remaining “green lungs”” and open spaces, which they say have important social, historical and biological value. Instead of building on unspoiled land, they advocate intensifying development in existing cities and towns such as Beersheva. For all that has been achieved over the years in trying to raise environmental awareness, the reality – one that even environmentalists recognize – remains that no matter how bleak a picture emerges, environmental issues are not likely to be considered a top priority until peace is achieved in the region. “The issues facing Israel on a daily basis are still at a level of life and death,”” Kahanov of JNF said. “When a mother is worried about her son coming back safely from Lebanon, the fact that there are environmental issues are secondary to her.”” Given the continuing political instability and grim outlook for the peace process, “something really bad may need to happen before people decide to do something,”” said Yuval Yavneh, a program officer in the Israeli office of the New Israel Fund, which provides grants and assistance to Israeli environmental organizations. By then, of course, it likely will be too late – and therein lies Israel”s quandary.