Exposure: Professional officials at the Ministry of Environmental Protection opposed the blanket removal of emission permits
The Ministry of Environmental Protection removed all 212 emission permits from its website, acting on the order of the head of the National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA) and in violation of the law. Professional officials within the ministry warned that the removal was ineffective because the information had been publicly available for years. The documents were revealed through a freedom of information request by Shkuf.
The Ministry of Environmental Protection removed all 212 emission permits from its website in a blanket manner and in violation of the law, during Operation "Roar of the Lion," on the order of the head of the National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA), Itzik Bar, and under pressure from the Manufacturers Association of Israel. Professional officials in the ministry opposed the removal and warned that the information, which had been publicly available for many years, had been digitized, so its deletion was merely technical. The documents, obtained by Shkuf through a freedom of information request, reveal that Lilach Pedlon, director of the National Hazardous Materials Authority, wrote that "the deletion or blackening is technical only and does not constitute a correction." The head of NEMA rejected the objections and ruled that the information should remain blacked out. The permits were only restored to the site in July, following a struggle by environmental activists and organizations.