Budgetary smoke screen: Waste fires defined as a national threat, but the plan to eradicate them received not a penny

A year after the government declared waste fires in the West Bank a 'national security threat', the flagship program to combat the phenomenon was not allocated a single shekel. The draft plan was circulated in early 2026 but was not approved due to a lack of budgetary agreement with the Treasury. A Knesset report reveals that only 25% of the budget for inspection units was realized.

Nearly a year after the government declared waste fires in the West Bank a 'national security threat', it turns out that the flagship program to combat the phenomenon was not allocated even a single shekel. The strategic plan formulated by the Environmental Protection Ministry included 62 positions for inspectors, planners, and legal experts, the operation of an operational reporting center, and the deployment of monitoring stations, with a budget of 134.6 million shekels. The draft plan was circulated in early 2026, but due to a lack of agreement with the Finance Ministry on the budget, it was never brought for government approval. A new report by the Knesset Research and Information Center reveals that only 25% of the budget for the inspection units 'David' and 'Yanshuf' was realized in 2026, although the Environmental Protection Ministry claims the data is not updated and that by the end of the year execution will stand at nearly 100%. The article criticizes the gap between public declarations and the actual lack of budgeting, noting that the waste fire problem is economic-social-infrastructural, not nationalist.