Israeli environment minister dismisses own ministry’s data after 83 pc drop in environmental indictments

Israel's environmental minister Idit Silman on Sunday dismissed as “fake news” official figures from her own ministry showing an 83 per cent plunge in indictments against environmental law violators during her tenure.

The data, obtained by environmental NGO Green Course through a Freedom of Information request and printed on official Environmental Protection Ministry letterhead, reveals that only 34 cases were referred to the ministry’s legal department in 2025, down sharply from 87 in 2023 and 65 in 2024.

In a post on X, Silman attacked Green Course as a “radical organization masquerading concern about the environment,” highlighting the group’s past collaboration with extremist left-wing organizations and the Arab-majority Hadash Party on a conference about the environmental impact of Israel’s war in Gaza. She specifically targeted Hadash leader MK Ayman Oudeh, accusing him of supporting terrorism.

Silman linked the criticism to her 2025 decision to freeze NIS 11 million ($3.9 million) in funding for environmental organizations—money already approved by the Maintenance of Cleanliness Fund, a statutory body financed through landfill fees and plastic bag levies.

“The reason they’re fighting me and the ministry is that their budgets have been completely frozen,” she said. “Not a single shekel should go to those who care about the well-being of the Gazans who slaughtered us on October 7, 2023,” she added, referencing the Hamas onslaught that killed 1,200 people and triggered the ongoing war.

Sharply Declining Prosecutions

The ministry data shows a dramatic drop in environmental prosecutions under Silman:

Despite maintaining seven lawyer positions across all three years, ministry employment dropped from seven lawyers in 2024 to five after May 2025, when interviews for a sixth position were underway.

The ministry’s formal response noted it could not disclose how many files had been outsourced and subsequently halted, or how many were referred with indictment recommendations, citing excessive resource requirements for manual file review. The letter also cautioned that data might be incomplete due to reliance on error-prone manual entry systems.

Ministry Reviews Figures

The Times of Israel reported that ministry officials are now reviewing all the figures, with no official comment yet on the published data. A Green Course spokesman said publication was delayed due to heavy workload after receiving the FOI response.

The controversy underscores growing tensions between Silman’s ministry and environmental organisations over funding cuts and enforcement priorities amid Israel’s ongoing war.