The Fight for Israeli Democracy Is a Fight for the Environment

A letter from the frontlines of the protests against Netanyahu

Paul Greenberg

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The shrinking of the Dead Sea is one of many environmental issues in Israel. Photo by Keith Chan on Unsplash.

The following is a guest essay by Josh Drill, an activist for Israeli democracy, former media consultant for a member of the Knesset and at work on a memoir about his service as a Golani officer in Hebron

In response to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s attempt to remove the Supreme Court’s powers, 400 Israeli environmental experts sent a letter to Benjamin Netanyahu warning him of the disastrous effects that the judicial overhaul will have on the environment. Israel has serious environmental issues that need to be dealt with from the shrinking of the Dead Sea, to air pollution in the Haifa area, waste disposal issues, and a high population growth coupled with resource scarcity. Netanyahu didn’t even bother responding to the letter. Welcome to the era of power hungry world leaders who put their self interest above the greater good of society and the environment.

Without a Supreme Court, corporations will be able to freely break laws that harm the environment and there will be no political body that can enforce the Israeli government’s current climate obligations.

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Paul Greenberg

New York Times bestselling author of Four Fish as well as The Climate Diet and Goodbye Phone, Hello World paulgreenberg.org