{"id":266,"date":"2022-03-20T09:14:14","date_gmt":"2022-03-20T09:14:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alontal.brandale.co.il\/?p=266"},"modified":"2022-03-20T09:14:14","modified_gmt":"2022-03-20T09:14:14","slug":"regional-environmental-cooperation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alontal.org.il\/?p=266&lang=en","title":{"rendered":"Regional Environmental Cooperation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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  1. Given its diminutive size, there are many environmental problems that cannot be solved without cooperation between Israel and its neighbors.\u00a0 The same is true for Jordan and the Palestinian Authority: Israeli streams on the Mediterranean coasts will not be rehabilitated until Palestinian wastes are regulated, while air quality in Ramallah will only improve when Tel Aviv mobile source air pollution is better controlled.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. The peace treaties with Jordan and with the Palestinian Authority include important provisions for environmental collaboration. Unfortunately, these have never been adequately implemented.\u00a0 For instance, almost thirty years ago, Israel and Jordan supposed to establish joint solar ventures — but it never happened.\u00a0 The 2021 agreement signed in Dubai, in which Israel agreed to export more desalinated water to its neighbors in exchange for renewable energy from Jordan, is the kind of \u201cwin-win\u201d initiative that needs to be expanded with governments throughout the region.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Jordanian and Palestinian water supply is extremely limited, leaving local populations with inadequate quantity and quality of water.\u00a0 Israeli desalination creates new opportunities to provide high quality water on a regular basis to both entities.\u00a0 Water sharing should be promoted as part of a regional natural resource strategy.\u00a0 Beyond cash payments, Israel could receive sand and other building materials which are in short supply from neighboring countries especially from Egypt and Jordan.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Israel exports over 80% of Judea and Samaria\u2019s electricity. When appropriate, Area B and C in the West Bank should be utilized for increased solar electricity production, spearheaded by local Palestinian entrepreneurs. This would give Israel access to this locally generated electricity and reduce the need to expand gas-based power plants while at the same time, contributing to a more sustainable Palestinian economy.<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. The Palestinian Authority must be more conscientious in building and maintaining wastewater treatment plants.\u00a0 Israel should provide the necessary approvals for those sites under its control and encourage the international donor community to make sanitation infrastructure investment to improve Palestinian quality of life.\u00a0 A clear wastewater reuse strategy should be part of the approval process, whether the effluents are utilized by Palestinian or Israeli farmers.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. Large mammals need large habitats in which to roam.\u00a0 Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority should begin to implement the many proposed \u201cpeace parks\u201d and ecological corridors to connect protected areas under their jurisdiction. Jordan should return the special status to Naharayim which created a sanctuary accessible to Israeli and Jordanian citizens as a model that should be expanded to other areas.<\/span><\/li>\n
  7. Waste disposal is not regulated regionally and illegal Israeli dumping in the West Bank creates egregious pollution and exposures. More effective enforcement by Israel is critical. It is time to make sustainability a central component of a new transboundary regulatory strategy for Israeli and Palestinian waste management, where recycling is optimized and overseen jointly, and disposal sites selected based on technical capacity.<\/span><\/li>\n
  8. Given the regional implications of climate change, joint strategies need to be designed which include solar energy production and expanded afforestation for carbon sequestration.\u00a0 Palestinian lands contiguous to Israeli forests, for example in the Yatir region, should be planted as part of a regional mitigation effort.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  9. Pesticide usage in the region is excessive. But its reduction via integrated pest management requires regional coordination. Utilization of barn owls to control mice and other pests by Israeli and Jordanian farmers in the Jordan valley has demonstrated the clear environmental, agricultural, and economic benefits of working together on pest control.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  10. The Gaza Strip produces copious amounts wastes whose discharge affects Israeli beaches and desalination. In fact, Gaza\u2019s inadequate infrastructure does far more local damage, harming Gazan desalination and utilization of its coasts. \u00a0 As part of Gaza\u2019s development, improved wastewater treatment and expanded desalination should be prioritized. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Given its diminutive size, there are many environmental problems that cannot be solved without cooperation between Israel and its neighbors.\u00a0 The same is true for Jordan and the Palestinian Authority: Israeli streams on the Mediterranean coasts will not be rehabilitated until Palestinian wastes are regulated, while air quality in Ramallah will only improve when Tel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-my-agenda"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alontal.org.il\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alontal.org.il\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alontal.org.il\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alontal.org.il\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alontal.org.il\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=266"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alontal.org.il\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":267,"href":"https:\/\/alontal.org.il\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266\/revisions\/267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alontal.org.il\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alontal.org.il\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alontal.org.il\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}