Advocacy group accuses Finance Ministry of ‘frontal attack’ on environment, public
Adam Teva V’Din joins environmental protection minister in blasting release of budget cut proposals just before cabinet vote now set for Sunday
Sue Surkes is The Times of Israel's environment reporter

The environmental advocacy organization Adam Teva V’Din launched a blistering attack Wednesday on a package of Finance Ministry proposals aimed at cutting government expenditure to help fund the ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza, warning that they posed a “frontal attack on the environment and the public.”
The organization called for a more “balanced” approach to the 2024 budget, joining criticism earlier in the day by Environmental Protection Minster Idit Silman who charged that distributing proposals that had not previously been coordinated with the ministry a day before the cabinet was expected to vote on them was unacceptable.
The legal organization, which acts as an environmental watchdog, said the “destructive” proposals were contrary to what was needed to face the climate crisis, prioritized polluting fuels over renewable energy, disincentivized the purchase of electric cars, harmed Israeli agriculture, and ignored public health by not pushing for more fruit and vegetables to be free of harmful pesticide residue for consumption.
The Finance Ministry sent its lengthy proposals out to all ministries on Wednesday morning, before a planned cabinet vote on them on Thursday.
The vote on the amendment to the 2024 budget has since been postponed to Sunday with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich saying the delay would allow for the completion of “professional legal work” on the government’s decisions in the revised budget given the massive spending on the ongoing war.
Among its environmental proposals, the Finance Ministry recommends a long-awaited carbon tax, noting the importance of taxing the real, full costs to the economy of emissions, in line with the ‘polluter pays’ principle, while also encouraging behavioral changes and an eventual transition to cleaner energy and energy efficiency.
It recommends gradual tax increases on fossil fuels (except gasoline and diesel, which it says are sufficiently taxed already). For example, the tax on each ton of coal would be NIS 147 ($39) in 2024, rising gradually to NIS 515 ($138) in 2029 and thereafter. On natural gas, it would rise from NIS 33 ($9) in 2024 to NIS 192 ($51) in 2029 and beyond.
However, according to Adam Teva V’Din, this would be a uniform tax on Israelis that would disproportionately harm disadvantaged populations.

Furthermore, unlike in other countries with a carbon tax, not only would the revenues not be used to encourage a move to renewable energy, but the Electricity Authority’s chairman would also be required to reduce subsidies for renewable energies as the carbon tax increases.
And, in parallel, the Energy Ministry would receive a budget to accelerate the deployment of natural gas, which, although less polluting than coal or oil, is nevertheless a global-warming fossil fuel.
“Every decision here requires an in-depth discussion on its own, to make sure that it is balanced, that the harm and damage does not exceed short-term savings… and that the damage to the lives of the Israeli public is not unreasonable,” Adam Teva V’Din said.
In its document, the Finance Ministry also proposes a landfill tax to reflect the emissions of greenhouse gasses (primarily methane). Adam Teva V’Din warned that without increased (and properly budgeted) enforcement by the Environmental Protection Ministry, the tax would more likely spur illegal dumping and burial of waste to avoid the payments.
The Finance Ministry notes the importance of electric vehicles for reaching the country’s global warming emissions cut targets, but says they are equivalent to combustion engine cars when it comes to causing traffic congestion.
It therefore proposes a travel tax of 15 agorot per kilometer (six cents per mile) that would gradually replace the current purchase tax. This, says the ministry, would be slightly less than the excise tax currently charged for gasoline and diesel.
Adam Teva V’Din warned that taxing electric vehicles before they had really penetrated the market could act as a disincentive, and called for electric mass transportation systems, such as trains and buses, to be exempt from the tax.
The Finance Ministry also proposes saving money by cutting 15 percent of multi-year budgets for a swath of initiatives. These include plans to close infrastructure gaps between Arab and Jewish communities and deal with forest fires.
Adam Teva V’Din pointed out that cutting budgets for Arab communities would leave in place a situation where Arab towns lack modern waste disposal infrastructure, where waste is therefore dumped illegally, often resulting in fires, and where removal is all too often left in the hands of criminals.
The organization also lamented a proposal to cut the budget of the Agriculture Ministry’s Central Enforcement and Investigations Unit on the basis that it had failed to meet its performance goals.
The unit is tasked with monitoring the transfer of agricultural produce from the Palestinian Authority to Israel, supervising the slaughtering industry, enforcing the Animal Cruelty (Animal Protection) Law, and overseeing pesticide use.
Adam Teva V’Din pointed out that in Israel, excessive pesticide residue is found in 11% to 18% of fruits and vegetables consumed by the public, compared to an average European rate of 4%.

Finally, the organization criticized a proposal to cut the budgets of chief scientists in several ministries, warning that this risked harming “not only the science that should be the basis for making policy decisions in government ministries, but also Israel’s ability to establish itself as a leader in innovation and research in the world, and on the climate issue in general.”
Israel last year approved a two-year budget for 2023 and 2024, but the ongoing war against Hamas has shaken government finances, requiring budget updates and additional spending.
In December, a supplementary budget was approved to cover the costs of the ongoing fighting with the Hamas and Hezbollah terror groups since October 7, including increased military expenditure and civilian expenses such as accommodations for evacuees from the north and south.
It faced opposition from parties on both sides of the aisle because it also allocated funding to some projects not connected to the war effort.