(VIDEO IN EXTENDED ARTICLE)

The Regavim organization has released this video in which we see there are hundreds of dunams of land in Israel that have become graveyards for abandoned vehicles.

It is explained that literally, thousands of vehicles are left and there is no one responsible for addressing this. An estimated 240,000 vehicles that are too old or have been put out of service due to an accident find their way in the nation’s junk yard annually.

There are 500 legal junk yards in Israel in which vehicles are disassembled and sold for parts, as is the case in an authorized facility in Ashdod.

However, most abandoned vehicles find their final resting place in the north, as it is free and there is no bureaucracy. Hence, there are 160 illegal dumping sites, with most in the northern areas. Regavim points out that while vehicles occupy so much land, much of this very same land is designated for agriculture but it is being lost to the pirate junk yards.

For some, the pirate junk yards have turned into a profitable business as vehicle owners come by seeking car parts, which they sell to them. From an environmental standpoint, it is reported the batteries and various fluids in the abandoned vehicles result in a toxic situation.

The report adds that some of the businesses operating do not have a business license, yet the arm of law-enforcement seems to have forgotten about these places.

One Israeli Arab quoted in the video explains they do not have authorized industrial areas, hence there is no alternative to operating as they do. The Israeli Arab Municipalities in northern Israel “have enough of their own problems and therefore, they are not dealing with this matter” the report adds.

The bottom line is that the various municipal and national agencies are playing hot potato with the issue, throwing from one to another while nothing is done to remove the most unwanted environmental hazard.

Note: A dunam is a quarter of an acre.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)