Over 150 voluntary organizations that are neither governmental bodies nor commercial companies (third sector organizations) are active in Israel on environmental issues. This figure has doubled over the past decade. Despite this sharp increase, “green” organizations still account for less than one percent of all third sector organizations.
Green organizations are financed mainly by philanthropic donations and through their own sources (i.e. membership fees); the level of the contribution made by the state is decreasing. Some organizations do not wish to receive state funding in order to ensure that they maintain their independence and freedom of action.
In Israel, as in other Western nations, for the most part, activists in these organizations come from the upper middle class and have completed higher education. A correlation has also been found between liberal attitudes on such issues as gender equality and environmental awareness, and between concern for environmental questions and willingness to pay taxes or to support public investment on environmental issues.
The start of the struggle to protect the environment in Israeli civil society may be identified with the establishment of the Public Council to Prevent Noise and Pollution (PCPNP), following the enactment of the Prevention of Hazards Law (1961), which is also known as the Kanowitz Law. In political history, this law is quoted as an example of a law that lacked any content since the necessary regulations for its implementation were never passed. The members of the PCPNP group decided to enforce the law, which prohibited noise, odors, and air pollution. The group also led opposition to the construction of the Reading power station by the Israel Electric Company in 1965. And, during the 1970s, it became a leading player on the subject of environmental hazards.
Green organizations in civil society may choose whether to adopt moderate or radical methods. Moderate methods include meetings with officials, media publications, writing letters to decision makers, organizing demonstrations with permits, taking legal action, and participation in planning committees. The moderate approach seeks to engage in dialogue with the authorities and to secure a compromise. Radical methods focus on the use of unorthodox political means (such as provocative demonstrations where protestors chain themselves to bulldozers in order to prevent work on a new road) and opposition to compromise. Most green organizations in Israel do not challenge government policy and have not adopted militant methods, but have opted for moderate courses of action. Some of the organizations are institutional both in terms of their activities (cooperation with governmental institutions) and their sources of financing (reliance on state funding).
In the past, the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI) was an establishment organization that enjoyed state financing and considered itself an integral part of the institutions of state. As civil society strengthened during the 1980s, however, the nature of its activities changed. In place of cooperation with the establishment, the SPNI began to play the role of challenging and pressuring the government. From its establishment in 1954 and all the way through to the mid-1980s, the SPNI assumed the national objective of inculcating love for the land and love of nature among the general public. From the mid-1980s, however, the organization became more environmentally aware. Rather than advancing national interests, its focus shifted to protecting the environment. This change included campaigns against government decisions, public protests, court petitions, and the filing of objections to planning committees. Despite this change, the SPNI continues to adopt a moderate approach and to cooperate with the government, acting as a consulting body in decision making processes.
An example of an organization that is independent in terms of funding, adopts a moderate approach, and challenges the establishment while participating in decision making processes is The Israel Union for Environmental Defense (IUED). The IUED, which is active mainly in the field of litigation, was established in 1990 by professionals from the fields of science and law and has taken advantage of the increasing legalization of politics in society, and the expansion of environmental legislation, in order to pursue legal campaigns for the environment. The IUED cooperates with local organizations, providing consultation and legal representation. Like other environmental organizations, it maintains its independence, and its funding comes from donations and membership fees. The IUED publishes an annual report on “environmental poverty” and runs a Green Hotline for public complaints relating to environmental hazards. During the relatively short period since its establishment, the organization has secured some successes. In the field of urban sewage, for example, the IUED successfully petitioned the courts to prevent the flow of sewage with a high level of acidity into the Kishon River from the plants of Haifa Chemical Enterprises. Petitions against the construction of marinas along the coast were also successful. The IUED has also led legislative initiatives on environmental issues; for example, it prepared the initial draft of the Proposed Law – Clean Air for Israel, 5766-2006. The IUED provides consultation for decision makers, and its representatives participate in planning committees and in public committees on environment-related issues.
Some organizations are active on a local level, bringing citizens together to confront hazards in their own immediate environment, such as a factory causing pollution. In some cases, such campaigns seek to remove a hazard (e.g. a refuse collection site or a plant for the purification of wastewater) from the residents' back yard – a phenomenon known as NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard). In most cases, successful groups are comprised of residents from strong socioeconomic backgrounds. The practical result is that decisions on the location of such environmentally hazardous facilities are not based on environmental considerations but on political ones, i.e. where opposition will be limited and weak. In most cases the population around such locations is weak in economic and political terms and finds it difficult to organize and protest; even if they do protest, their social marginalization means that they lack political power.
Different environmental organizations sometimes cooperate in order to enhance their power. For example, a coalition of organizations called “Sustainable Jerusalem” ran a campaign to preserve the Jerusalem Forest and oppose the approval of the “Safdie Plan” to build to the west of the city (the plan was rejected by the National Planning and Building Board in April 2007).
The issue of the environment encourages the involvement of citizens in decision-making processes. According to the Planning and Building Law, 5725-1965, the local authority is required to provide citizens with information on urban plans and those who consider themselves injured by the plan may file objections which are heard by the district planning and building board. However, the law implies that the involvement of citizens is solely retroactive, after the plan already exists, rather than during its design. Despite this, some local authorities encourage cooperation with citizens and green organizations during the planning process.
One of the main changes that has occurred in the field of planning in recent years is the formalization of a legal obligation to ensure that green organizations are represented on district planning boards and public committees on environmental issues (Representation of Public Bodies Relating to the Protection of the Environment Law [Legislative Amendments], 5763-2002).
A further example is the Citizens Conference, an organized initiative to involve citizens in decision making processes on complex issues that are usually discussed only by experts. The goal is to develop a responsible and consensual civil position on these issues. Environmental issues are of concern to many citizens and are suitable for this type of initiative, which helps strengthen the democratic nature of the decision making process on planning issues. The first Citizens Conference in Israel was held in 2000 and discussed the future of transport. During the conference, a group of citizens met with various experts, representatives of green organizations, and representatives of companies active in the field of transportation, and issued a report detailing its recommendations.
In conclusion, civil society constitutes a key arena for the activities of green organizations in Israel on local and national levels. Most of the green organizations have adopted moderate methods, participating in decision making processes or petitioning the courts in order to change decisions, and working to raise public awareness of these issues. Given the intensive work of the green organizations and their impact on the decision-making processes, green politics in Israel may be seen to be growing from the grassroots up.