Israel Environment Bulletin Autumn 1993-5754, Vol. 16, No. 4
INAUGURATION OF ENVIRONMENT YEAR
The Year of the Environment in Israel was officially inaugurated on
September 6th with a two-pronged ceremony: at the top of the Hiriya
garbage dump in the morning and at Beit Hanassi (the Presidents'
Residence) in the afternoon.
The idea to launch Environment Year not only at Beit Hanassi, but
in Hiriya, Israel's largest landfill, was initiated by President
Ezer Weizman himself. He felt that environmental concern cannot be
declared from an ivory tower; to engage in the battle for the
environment, one must "smell" it first . Atop the Hiriya mountain
of garbage, which received 737,000 tons of rubbish from the greater
Dan (Tel Aviv) region last year alone, President Weizman,
Environment Minister Yossi Sarid, former-Tel Aviv Mayor Shlomo
Lahat and other dignitaries had the chance to see, to smell, and
thus to fully understand the environmental challenges facing Israel
today.
Both the President and the Environment Minister spoke of the future
in their inaugural speeches. "We must throw our Hiriyas to the
garbage can of history," said Minister Sarid. "In 1995 this dump
will no longer be here; in its place a green park will stand; in
its stead a transfer station and recycling plants will arise."
President Weizman, on his part, spoke of the place of the
environment in a future of peace, when "environmental problems will
be among the first subjects on the agenda to be discussed with our
neighbors."
The theme of environment and peace was reiterated again and again
that same afternoon at Beit Hanassi in Jerusalem. With the
participation of such dignitaries as President Weizman, Prime
Minister Rabin, Environment Minister Sarid and many others, an
environmental covenant was solemnly signed (see next page). In
this aesthetic environment, to the sound of Vivaldi and Mozart
played by a quintet of new immigrants, Minister Sarid reflected on
the consequences of the accelerated development which characterized
Israel's past. Today, we all understand, he said, that "one cannot
build a state when one destroys it."
"As we inaugurate Environment Year today, we stand at the gates of
a special new year, with good signs of its being a year of peace.
Creating peace is our supreme moral responsibility to the
generations to come. These are our own children. When our children
sleep at night, we quietly tiptoe into their rooms to make sure
they are safe, tuck them in, and listen to their calm breathing.
Tomorrow, we will be checking what they breathe. First, we ensure
life; then we ensure the quality of life, the quality of the
environment in which we live."