Palestinian ecological damage causes concern by Israel

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Israel’s Environment Ministry in a study released last week complained about the enormous ecological damage being caused by Palestinian Arabs using local streams in Judea and Samaria to discharge their sewage.

The report notes that there is a severe lack of sewage treatment facilities in the Palestinian-controlled areas, despite the fact that the Palestinian Authority receives more foreign financial aid per capita of any government on earth. It is yet more evidence that the Palestinians have failed to fulfill their peace commitment to create the foundations of an independent state.

The report also lamented that there is no sewage treatment cooperation agreement between Israel and the PA, and explained that working together on such issues is nearly impossible. While the PA is unwilling or unable to handle such issues on its own, it also often rejects Israeli assistance as it doesn’t want to appear incapable.

Another explanation is that the PA wants to maintain an atmosphere of squalor and destitution in order to garner more international sympathy.

Whatever the reason, Environment Ministry official warned that the sewage from Arab towns is severely contaminating the streams and the ground water, and will eventually make both unusable as sources of drinking water.