Adv. Yizhar Yitzhaki

The Birth of Legal Consultation in the Field of Environmental Protection

The establishment of the Environmental Protection Directorate in 2009, which concentrated experts and practitioners in the field of environmental protection from all branches of the IDF, marked a significant step forward in the IDF's approach to the potential environmental damage caused by its activities. It also served as a foundation for considering the need to consolidate legal knowledge and activities in the field of environmental protection under one roof.

This replaced the previous situation, where this legal branch was treated as one of several topics handled by each of the legal advisors to the regional commands and the General Staff divisions, particularly the Planning Division and the Technology and Logistics Division.

This change was driven by the rapid advancement in Israeli environmental and ecological perception and culture, particularly in the fields of law and legislation. As a result, the IDF found itself, like other entities in Israel, requiring ongoing legal consultation at every step and stage of its activities: from the need to initiate, draft, amend, and update orders, instructions, and guidelines in the IDF, through the need for legal training and instruction of personnel in environmental protection, to the inevitable involvement in addressing, reducing, and preventing hazards created by the IDF's activities since the establishment of the state to the present day.

In the past two years, these areas have also included legal involvement in accompanying projects, contracts, and engagements with environmental aspects, as well as increased attention to the formulation of government legislation led by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, especially where it impacts the IDF.

Therefore, the Planning Division, the Technology and Logistics Division, and the Military Advocate General joined forces to establish dedicated legal consultation for environmental protection, which began operating in mid-2010 under the Legal Advice and Legislation Department of the Military Advocate General. The conceptual change in the IDF regarding its environmental impact was expressed and initiated in the fields of law and legislation.

In the nine months since its establishment last year, the legal consultation desk has addressed numerous issues in various fields of environmental quality.

Among the key issues are the staff work and preparation in the IDF for the impending legislation of the Environmental Enforcement Bill, the handling of asbestos hazards, initiatives for energy efficiency and resource conservation, addressing soil and water pollution, preventing and regulating air pollution emissions, preventing noise and odor nuisances, as well as recycling and disposal of waste, packaging, and construction products.

The Legal Perspective in the "IDF Protects the Environment" Program

The management of a large entity like the IDF, in an era of urban density, a growing population reaching new peaks daily in Israel and the Judea and Samaria area, and noticeable scarcity and rising costs of basic resources and minerals, is impossible without integrating the public environmental interest at every stage of activity.

In this sense, attention to environmental protection is imperative, even within the military ranks - from routine training to national projects such as the IDF's move southward, notably the establishment of the Training Campus in the Negev.

In their statements in various military forums, the Environmental Protection Directorate personnel often remind that while the IDF's role is to defend the state, and until today, uniformed personnel have been engaged in the struggle for life, alongside the role of state defense, today an additional layer has been added - the purpose of preserving quality of life and the environment.

This layer in military activity is embodied in the multi-year program "IDF Protects the Environment," which for the first time in IDF history includes a structured program to address environmental hazards caused over more than six decades of intensive security activities throughout the country.

This program, like any other in the IDF, relies on applicable military law and includes special attention to legislation, orders, the need to update mandatory instructions, and the necessary preparation to meet existing and future norms.

In our view, legal consultation in environmental protection can serve as a central component in promoting the environmental purpose and the correct integration of the IDF into the delicate environmental fabric in which it operates.

This is especially true in light of the increased application of environmental legislation to the defense system entities, including the IDF.

As far as can be judged at the early stages we are in, the effort to promote the updating of military orders, mapping of environmental hazards in the IDF, and strengthening legal cooperation with the Ministry of Environmental Protection in aspects of information sharing and environmental enforcement has begun to yield results in a short period.

The legal consultation for environmental protection will continue to work hand in hand with the Environmental Protection Directorate in the IDF to increase the awareness of commanders and soldiers in the IDF regarding environmental protection and to establish appropriate norms in this important field within the military ranks.