Israel

• Author: Tzvi Levinson and Gil Dror
• Pages: 827-848

CHAPTER 42

Israel

TZVI LEVINSON AND GIL DROR

I. Overview

A. Introduction

The Israeli environmental law regime bears notable similarities to the body

of environmental law in other countries; this is due in part to Israel’s com-

mon law influences as well as its avid participation in the growing interna-

tionalization of environmental law through multinational conventions and

more informal global principles. The result is a substantial civil, administra-

tive, and criminal code making up the relatively new field of environmental

law in Israel. To understand the practicalities of environmental compliance

in Israel, one must first understand the unique aspects of Israel’s legal struc-

ture as they apply to environmental legislation and enforcement.

B. Structure of Israel’s Environmental Legal System

There are a plethora of authorities that govern legal issues in the environ-

mental arena in Israel. Among these are the Ministries of Environmental Pro-

tection; Health, Energy, and Water; and the Interior. In addition to these

national authorities, local authorities also have control and legislative pow-

ers over environmental issues. Finally, various courts adjudicate issues aris-

ing from environmental disputes.

C. Ministry of Environmental Protection

The Ministry of Environmental Protection is charged with the primary

responsibility for implementing and enforcing environmental laws on a

national scale.

In practice, however, the ministry’s powers are neither absolute nor

exclusive and there is overlap between the authority of the Ministry of Envi-

ronmental Protection and other agencies. Each of these ministries has man-

dates that touch upon environmental issues and each is enabled by law to

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implement restrictions and enforce the laws under their scope. All agencies

have the power to promulgate regulations, based on their enabling laws.

Among these agencies, no single agency has clear supremacy over another.

That said, there is discussion about increasing the relative influence of the

Ministry of Environmental Protection. Practitioners should take care to con-

sider the reach of each of the authorities having environmental responsibili-

ties and seek to comply with each of their compliance processes.

D. Ministry of Health

The Ministry of Health is given power over issues affecting public health, an

area that is directly related to environmental protection. It controls the licens-

ing of manufacturers in certain industries, such as the food industry, as well

as the quality of drinking water. It also has the power over certain waste

issues, including municipal, industrial, and agricultural wastewater, its treat-

ment, and reuse.

E. Ministry of Energy and Water

The Ministry of Energy and Water is particularly relevant to environmental

regulation by virtue of its control over pollution created as a by-product of

energy production, for example, greenhouse gases (GHGs), and a subagency

within the Ministry of Energy and Water, the Water Authority. Quotas for

water consumption (e.g., from industry, agriculture, etc.) must be approved

by the Water Authority.

F. The Ministry of the Interior

The Ministry of the Interior has authority over business licensing (which may

carry environmental conditions) and supervises local authorities, which may

pass their own local environmental bylaws. It is also one of the ministries

responsible for controlling water and wastewater corporations. Under the

Water and Sewage Corporation Law, these corporations have recently been

“semi-privatized” from local authorities and become instead local corporations.

G. The Court System

No one court in Israel handles all environmental issues. The issues, depend-

ing on their nature and the nature of their progression through the system,

may end up in any number of courts, including courts of special jurisdiction

set up to control limited areas of environmental adjudication.

1. Administrative Courts

There is a tendency to process most environmental administrative issues,

such as appeals on the denial of a permit, through administrative courts.

828 INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL LAW