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field comes together to create a broad,
comprehensive approach.

Thus, in Judea and Samaria, Field
Coordinator Yishai Hemo traverses
the countryside, investigating and
documenting illegal construction –
carried out in areas under full Israeli
jurisdiction, but without permits or
planning, in violation of international law
and the Oslo Accords, as well as Israeli
law - but the individual cases are only a
part of the larger goal. “By ‘connecting
the dots’ between seemingly-random
Palestinian outposts throughout the
region, we unmasked the Palestinian Meir Deutsch addresses Knesset hearing
Authority’s (PA) plan, supported by the up-to-date aerial and drone photography,
European Union’s ongoing violations Protecting Israel’s Environment state-of-the-art GIS maps, and more.
of international law, to build a de facto In its fight to protect the land itself, the When we have the facts, the next
Palestinian state in Area C according to organization has become a major force in stage begins. We process and digest
the Fayyad Plan,” says Hemo. environmental protection. In 2018 alone, all of this information and build our
Regavim opened 50 new environmental
“This year, we exposed the PA’s abuse case-files: “We petitioned against case, file official complaints with the
systematic program of strategic land unlicensed, polluting garbage dumps relevant authorities, and closely monitor
seizure through mass-scale agricultural and illegal quarries that are scarring the enforcement activity. When necessary,
activity, funded by Arab and European countryside, water pollution caused by we take it to the next stage. Our legal
countries. Taking advantage of the dumping of raw sewage, destruction department petitions the court for an
outmoded system of law in force in Judea of the landscape, and more,” says Hezi injunction or work-stop order.”
and Samaria, the PA has begun to redraw Eyal, Field Coordinator for the Northern The process doesn’t end there, though.
the map and stake Palestinian claims Region. “In some cases, our activity The follow-up often takes longer than
to huge areas that the Oslo Accords had immediate results; in others, we the case-building or prosecution, and
placed under full Israeli jurisdiction. battle on. Our research on the illegal some active cases have been in the courts
Our detailed study of the problem automotive scrapyards that are blighting for a decade. In the interim, Deutsch
was presented to the Prime Minister, the north of Israel revealed that there and his colleagues use the information
members of the cabinet, ministers and is no official government authority
MKs. At the same time, we filed several responsible for enforcing the law in cases
Supreme Court petitions, launched a of environmental crime – and the crimes
media campaign, and took MKs on fact- involved are many: illegal scrapyards are
polluting our soil and water, flooding
finding tours of endangered areas in the used-parts market with sub-standard,
Judea and Samaria.
undocumented merchandise, and
Our “Roots of Evil” report has served as fostering a hotbed of organized crime.
the basis for a series of hearings in the Our report on these scrapyards will serve
Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense as the basis for continued activism in the
Committee; as a result of our intensive Knesset and the courts in 2019.”
efforts, the Ministry of Defense has “The idea is to empower the government
finally acknowledged the problem, to exercise its power,” says Meir
and has drafted recommendations to Deutsch, who recently assumed the
combat this strategic threat. The Civil role of Director-General. “We use the
Administration in Judea and Samaria, information we gather to create an
the official body responsible for law overview of the problem. We research
enforcement, has turned a blind eye as the history and the legal issues that
the PA, with the help of tens of millions impact what we see out in the field
of Euros provided by the EU and others, today, and map out the problem using
has expropriated tens of thousands of every resource we can get our hands
acres of state land – land that is now on: archival material, land deeds and Illegal agricultural land seizure is changing the map
permanently lost to the Jewish State.” official documents, historic photographs, of Israel: Area C, under full Israeli administration

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