When we think about the biggest threats to our country, usually Hamas or Hezbollah come to mind. But these experts explained that when looking to the future, we need to start looking inward.

By SHIR PERETS MAY 1, 2025 21:54

GARBAGE IN THE Judean desert.

The Jewish state, now marking its 77th year of independence, is expected to be much hotter in seven decades.

Without proper long-term planning, Israel might become an urban heat island due to fierce sun radiation and water concerns,  the head of the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design’s Urban Design program, Danielah Smits-Possek, told The Jerusalem Post.

From the shrinking shores of the Dead Sea to the extreme heat of the Middle East, environmental challenges will become critical in the coming decades.

According to some of Israel’s leading environmental and climate innovators – who have dedicated their lives to addressing the environmental challenges threatening to reshape the landscape in profound and potentially irreversible ways – there are two paths: idyllic or apocalyptic.

Israeli-American solar energy pioneer Yosef Abramowitz explained the turning point this country is at and what awaits our children if we don’t act soon.

“Herzl, when he had his vision for this place, he envisioned that all the energy was going to be green and that all the cars were going to be electric,” said Abramowitz.

If we don’t work to fulfill Herzl’s vision, the alternative would be to let the fossil fuel industry destroy the future of our state, he explained.

Mor Gilboa, CEO of the Israeli NGO Zalul, detailed a world where humanity has failed to stop climate change. 

“With all my desire to imagine a better, cleaner world, it’s very difficult given our current trajectory,” he said, explaining that currently, 80% of the world’s coral reefs, from Australia to Eilat, have been lost due to climate crises, rising water temperatures, and water acidification.

Gilad Ostrovsky, chief forester at Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund, explained that it’s difficult to see past the glaring threat of climate change, especially given the fact that the Middle East is warming much faster than the global average.

“That means less rain, longer, hotter periods, droughts, really difficult conditions for humans, but also for trees and for the natural environment. It’s a real threat, and it has a component of uncertainty. We’re not sure what will happen. We have to think for the long term and do what we can to make sure that the open lands will remain, not just for the 77 years to come but for the future.”

WHEN WE THINK about the biggest threats to our country, usually Hamas or Hezbollah come to mind. But these experts explained that when looking to the future, we need to start looking inward.

“More people die from the effects of air pollution in the State of Israel every year than from October 7 and the aftermath,” Abramowitz said, adding that the two main contributors to that massive figure – 5,510 in 2023, according to the Health Ministry – are the pollution that comes from generating power by burning gas and coal and the reliance on combustion engines for transportation.

https://www.jpost.com/environment-and-climate-change/article-852062