Likud candidate Jacky Levy indicted for trash infractions

Jacky Levy, the former Beit She’an mayor now running for Knesset on the 18th slot of the Likud slate, was indicted Sunday for environmental infractions during his term.

Levy and several staffers are accused of polluting the Harod Stream near Beit She’an on numerous occasions, the NRG news site reported. They also dumped garbage in public places, operated a garbage-processing station that was not up to code, and failed to take measures to reduce air pollution and odors from the site, the indictment said.

The garbage dump cited in the indictment caught fire in May 2012, burning large amounts of plastic and metal for a period of several days, causing significant smoke and air pollution.

The municipality started transferring garbage to another site, but failed to prevent more trash from being dumped there. Another fire broke out at the site weeks later.

Levy and the municipality allegedly ignored repeated warnings from the Environmental Protection Ministry over their handling of the garbage disposal and the environmental damage they were causing.

The indictment was submitted in the Nazareth District Court. It also listed as defendants Levy’s deputy Yehezkel Hariv, and two municipal workers, Goel Yisraeli and Alice Nahum.

There is no word yet on whether this will affect Levy’s candidacy for the Knesset.

Levy’s father, David Levy, served as foreign minister and deputy prime minister, and was a symbol for Mizrahi Israelis who wished to see more integration into influential government posts. His sister is Yisrael Beytenu MK Orly Levy-Abekasis.