Air pollution is not adequately monitored, and the government lacks the funds to implement a national plan.

ByJUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH. OCTOBER 10, 2025

When the war in Gaza ends and our precious hostages are returned, Israelis will finally be able to take a deep breath. 

But will we? The air we breathe is filled with chemical and gasoline fumes, tobacco smoke, natural dust storms, smoke from fires, and other matter, including military activity. This causes serious air pollution and is responsible for an estimated 5,000 deaths per year in Israel from respiratory, oncological, cardiological, and other chronic diseases. 

In fact, despite the move to electric and hybrid cars and buses and the electrification of trains, air pollution remains a major problem that gives rise to the premature deaths of some eight million people around the world. Dirty air is the second leading cause of premature deaths worldwide, mostly due to non-communicable diseases. 

Air pollution is also the second-biggest cause of death of children under age five, after malnutrition, and it raises the risk of premature births. Air pollution exists not only outdoors but also indoors from tobacco smoke and various indoor activities. 

Israeli academic researchers wring their hands over the fact that the government has been slow to make changes in laws or spend money to monitor air pollution around the country. “Scientific research can guide decision-makers, but lasting improvement in air quality depends on consistent governmental action,” noted Prof. Alexandra Chudnovsky, a senior researcher in climate change and pollution at the Department of Geophysics, Faculty of Exact Sciences, at Tel Aviv University (TAU) in an interview with In Jerusalem.

Since 2013, she has run a lab that conducts research on air-pollutionexposure, dust storms, and environmental quality indicators, and she and her team monitor lidar air-pollution-measurement stations in the Tel Aviv area. 

“They are very expensive, and technicians have to be paid to run them. A national program is needed; but especially since the war began, there is not enough money for it,” she said. “It’s low priority for the government, which certainly doesn’t invest in monitoring because the Environmental Protection Ministry has a limited budget. And it’s especially hard to get grants, as the US government has cut back on such funds for foreign research. 

“We really need donors who care about the subject and can also provide additional scholarships to students. The anti-Israel sentiment has also slashed research cooperation with other countries.

“In 2022, the government decided to improve air quality, but the climate law has not yet been approved or carried out due to budget problems,” she said. 

THE MINISTRY, which tries its best, publishes an annual monitoring report on the implementation of the National Plan for Reducing Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gases. But it admitted to a series of delays in the implementation of the policy to reduce emissions according to government decisions in recent years in all key sectors of the economy, and the urgent need to approve a climate law, stop the use of coal, reduce travel, and reduce landfilling of waste. 

The government can invite academic experts to warn about the danger, but that isn’t enough. Industry and start-up companies need to be brought in to find hi-tech and low-tech solutions to global air pollution problems, continued Chudnovsky, who made aliyah from Ukraine in 1990. 

She earned her BA, MA, and PhD at TAU. She was also a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Environmental Sciences at Rehovot’s Weizmann Institute of Science, and a research fellow and visiting scientist at Harvard University, where she specialized in the development of spatial models based on satellite imagery to estimate exposure levels to air pollution, temperature, and vegetation.

“Pollution is affected by heat. When temperatures are higher, there is less wind.” Trees, said the TAU expert, “can reduce pollution, but some species themselves release ozone, which is harmful. This aspect needs more research. If there are only a few monitoring stations in a city, the whole situation can’t be understood. 

“In London,” she said, “there is citizen science in which people around the city have small stations to check the air pollution in their neighborhoods. In Israel, there are fewer than 70 stations for the whole country, and that isn’t enough.” 

She would be overjoyed if every Israeli neighborhood had a small monitoring station, which would cost about NIS 1,000. “All have to speak the same ‘language,’ and they have to be at a certain height. There is no uniformity. They could be installed on top of cellphone tower antennas – but a national plan is needed to do this.” 

Chudnovsky has the data to rank the air quality of all of Israel’s cities, but there aren’t enough stations to identify air-pollution events. “Obviously, where there’s a lot of industry, such as in Haifa, and a lot of traffic, as in Tel Aviv, the air is dirtier. In places that are distant from these pollutants, the air is much cleaner.” 

Jerusalem has a lot of traffic, and it “imports” dust storms. Earlier this year, there were days when it was almost impossible for residents to breathe freely. Pollution from Europe, Africa, and elsewhere reaches Israel.

Tips to reduce exposure to air pollution:

• Check your local air quality index and stay indoors on high-pollution days, keeping windows closed. When you must go outside, wear a well-fitting mask when the index is high. Babies, young children, pregnant women, and the elderly need to be protected the most. 
• Drink plenty of water, and avoid strenuous outdoor activity; limit exposure to other airborne pollutants, such as smoke and aerosol products in the home. 
• When outdoors, stay away from busy streets and avoid areas with heavy traffic. Reduce the intensity and duration of outdoor activities, especially strenuous exercise like running or cycling, when pollution is high. 
• Wear a high-filtration mask. If going outside is unavoidable during high-pollution periods, wear a well-fitting N95 or KN95 mask. Cloth and surgical masks are not effective at filtering fine particulate matter. 
• If you have an air conditioner, use it with a high-efficiency filter, running it on a recirculating mode if possible. 
• Wash your face and hands after coming inside, to remove any trapped contaminants. 
• Regularly blowing your nose can help clear out inhaled pollutants. If you have a respiratory condition, carry your reliever inhaler at all times. 
• Eat antioxidant-rich foods. A diet rich in antioxidants can help your body fight the effects of pollution. Include foods such as berries, oranges, spinach, and green tea. 

The Environment and Climate Change portal is produced in cooperation with the Goldman Sonnenfeldt School of Sustainability and Climate Change at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. The Jerusalem Post maintains all editorial decisions related to the content.

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