Crisis on Israel's Shores: Emergency Meeting by the Green Funders Forum (February 24, 2021)
Channel: Jewish Funders Network
Date: 2021-02-26

An emergency update by the Green Funders' Forum on one of the worst ecological disasters in the history of Israel -- the unprecedented oil spill affecting Israel's entire coastline. 

We received an up-to-date picture of the scale of the disastrous oil spill and the immediate actions being taken to save the marine environment and to mitigate the health risks to Israeli residents. Moreover, we heard what steps the State of Israel needs to take to prevent further ecological disasters now and in the future, and discussed the actions we can take as a philanthropic community.  
 
Speakers:

Dr. Ruthy Yahel, Chief Marine Ecologist at the Israel Nature and Parks Authority: The unfolding damage to the shores of Israel and to marine life.

Arik Rosenblum,  Executive Director of EcoOcean : Leading the volunteering rescue actions on the ground, and preparedness for emergencies

Nir Papai, Deputy CEO of Nature Protection at the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel: Preventing future dangers to Israel in the Red Sea and the Med Sea from oil and gas drillings and from the Euro-Asia pipeline from Eilat to Ashkelon that Israel is discussing with UAE. 

Eran Ben-Yemini, Executive Director of Life and Environment, an umbrella organization for the environmental movement.  
 
Background:
An oil transport ship spilled tons of oil about 30 miles off the coast of Israel.  Israel's entire shoreline is filled with batches of tar, oil and waste;  thousands of marine animals are dead or in critical condition; dozens of people have been injured and the drinking water from desalination plants is in danger of contamination. And, the consequences are accumulating. The public has mobilized en masse: Thousands of volunteers are cleaning the beaches at the risk of their health; local municipalities and governmental authorities are overburdened responding to this unprecedented situation.       
At the same time, the Israeli government is about to make fateful decisions that affect our future concerning oil and gas drilling in the Mediterranean and the transport of oil from the UAE via a massive oil pipeline from the Gulf of Eilat to Ashkelon and Ashdod.  

Hosts:            

Sigal Yaniv Feller , Deputy Director and Senior Director of Advisory Services, JFN
Gil Yaacov, Consultant of the Green Funders Forum

Marla Stein, Co-Chair of the Green Funders Forum

View the presentations at https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iKV8SbOjAi7Qbv-z7WxcsyX6vic1gN4K

*Learn more about JFN at www.jfunders.org*