The Council for a Beautiful Israel and the Union of Local Authorities in Israel (ULAI) on Sunday evening issued a five-point manifesto on environmental protection they hope all those campaigning for local office will sign now and uphold once elected.
Local elections across the country are scheduled for November 11.
The announcement at the council's Tel Aviv headquarters was sparsely attended by people vying for public office. Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit (Kadima), ULAI head Adi Eldar, Council for a Beautiful Israel head Avraham Katz-Oz and Knesset Internal Affairs and Environment Committee chairman Ophir Paz-Pines (Labor) were present.
A committee of experienced civil servants and environmental planners, led by Dr. Miki Haran, an academic and a former director-general of the Environmental Protection Ministry, crafted five points they feel local authorities must commit to in an effort to preserve and improve the environment.
The contract sets out some basic assumptions that the candidates are meant to adopt and then makes five specific points.
One assumption is that "in the modern age, it is every citizen's right to live in a beautiful and quality environment." Furthermore, that environment depends in large part upon the actions of the municipality, the manifesto states, and improving the city's environment is one of the mayor's primary responsibilities.
Specifically, the contract calls for:
• Prioritizing natural resources and local heritage sites by protecting and developing them.
• A planning concept that puts residents at the center, rather than transportation or infrastructure, and that recognizes the need for ongoing investment in developing the community and improving urban life.
• Supporting environmental education, encouraging environmental responsibility among residents and setting a personal example.
• Total transparency regarding plans that impact on the environment.
• A long-term master plan that sets specific environment-related goals. The plan will include a declaration of intent to fulfill at least five of the specific steps laid out in the contract's appendix every year of the candidate's term.
The appendix lists such steps as better enforcement of environmental laws, at least a 20 percent increase in investment in bike paths, incentives for "green" building, promoting public transportation, recycling municipal waste water, as well as various educational initiatives, among many others.
Both Eldar and Paz-Pines said implementing the contract was the main point; not signing it
"We should check up every year to see whether the contract has remained on paper or been actualized," Eldar said at a press conference before the launch.
"I call on every candidate to add the issue of the environment to their platform," he said. "There is nothing in this contract and its appendix that a mayor cannot implement."
Paz-Pines said the contract followed a similar initiative undertaken by Forum 15, a forum of the 15 largest cities.
"Everyone will sign this contract ahead of elections, but the test is in the implementation," he said. "We must follow up on this after the elections."
There are five major players in the "environmental revolution" Israel was undergoing, Paz-Pines said: the government, the Knesset, the local authorities, the business sector and academia.
"Israel will not save the world, but let's at least save ourselves and join the fight to save the world," he said. "We have the knowledge and technology to spread all over the world."
Katz-Oz added a sixth player to the list: the media. He called on the media to help the council "hold up a mirror. It is our job to provide the oversight and critique, and we can only do it through you."
Earlier in the day, the Green Party of Haifa announced it would boycott the launch and refuse to sign the contract, claiming such initiatives were meaningless stunts that did nothing to improve the environment.
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