From the Liveblog of
Sunday, October 26, 2025
Environment minister reportedly admits to blocking funds from environmental groups
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSue Surkes is The Times of Israel's environment reporter
Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman reportedly admits to having blocked funds for environmental organizations, remarking at the weekly ministerial meeting that the organizations “fight the state,” the Ynet news site reports.
The organizations are fighting for NIS 11 million ($3.6 million) approved for distribution by the statutory Cleanup Fund. That fund was established in 1984 and is financed from sources including landfill fees and plastic bag levies. Cash left over at the end of the year is distributed wholly or in part to help fund environmental organizations the following year.
The Environmental Protection Ministry has maintained that it could not issue a call for grant proposals this year for the funds “due to budget constraints.”
On the issue of waste burning in the West Bank, which causes smoke and pollution for hundreds of thousands of Israelis every year, Silman reportedly quipped in the meeting that “because the Palestinian people don’t exist, they can’t protect the earth.”
The not-for-profit Citizens for Clean Air organization writes to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, pressing him to chair an emergency discussion, with Silman and Defense Minister Bezalel Smotrich present, to determine immediate steps to curb the phenomenon and protect public health.
The group reports that complaints about pollution emanating from the illegal burning of waste have increased by 80% this month compared with last month and are nearly quadruple the complaints submitted in August.
While the complaints have come for years from Israeli communities close to the West Bank, they are now being voiced from as far as Kiryat Ono, Petah Tikva and even Tel Aviv, the organization says.
The Times of Israel Community.