JNS
Some 2 billion gallons of wastewater has seeped into the ground in the area since 2009.
Environmental groups in Judea and Samaria are cautiously optimistic following the issuing of a tender by the Civil Administration for the operation of a sewage treatment plant near the Binyamin community of Ofra.
According to the Green Now environmental protection organization, the plant was constructed in 2009, but never opened its doors, after left-wing organizations petitioned Israel’s High Court of Justice in 2011 questioning the legal status of the land on which it was built.
The legal hurdles surrounding the property were cleared in 2019, but Green Now says the facility remained idle, as millions of cubic meters of untreated sewage continued to pollute area soil and groundwater, poison agricultural produce, and spill into fields and streams shared by Jews and Arabs alike.
After learning the Civil Administration finally issued a tender to operate the plant, Barak Werker, director of operations at Green Now, said, "This is significant news and a ray of hope for ending the severe pollution in the heart of the Binyamin region [of Samaria]. We've supported Ofra's residents in their long fight to activate this sewage treatment plant and put a stop to the dreadful pollution.
"We will continue to monitor, update and ensure that this project moves forward; the damage escalates with each passing day, affecting Israeli citizens far beyond the Binyamin region."
Werker told JNS the treatment plant is badly needed. “Right now in 2025, if you flush your toilet in Ofra, a community of around 800 families, it goes down the pipes untreated and directly into the open streams in Binyamin.
“At the same time,” he said, “in the surrounding Arab villages [Yabrud, Silwan, Ein Yabrud and Beitin] the homes in those communities have makeshift septic tanks, basically porous holes in the ground where their waste goes. The liquid seeps down into the mountain reservoirs, and what’s left is gathered at these 'hotspots' and dumped directly into local streams.”
Werker explained, “The situation is very bad. Two thousand cubic meters [around 528,000 gallons] per day of sewage seeps into the ground in this area, or 7.5 million cubic meters [approximately 2 billion gallons] since 2009. The danger is that this can get into our drinking water.”
The plan is for the Ofra plant to service the Jewish and Arab communities in the area. But Werker said he is not confident in the Civil Administration’s ability to follow through and get the facility running.
“There was already an agreement in place with a company to run the plant two years ago, but the Civil Administration was dragging its feet, and the company had to back out. I believe they should have turned the management of the facility over to the local municipality. We will now have to make sure they do their part,” he said.
In response to a JNS query for comment, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) unit, which oversees civilian policy in Judea and Samaria, said, "In 2009, a wastewater treatment facility was constructed in the vicinity of the community of Ofra by local individuals. The construction was carried out illegally and was therefore halted.
"Following court deliberations, it was decided that the construction of the wastewater treatment facility would resume, with the site being managed and overseen by the Civil Administration. The facility is intended to provide sanitation solutions for all residents of the area, both Palestinians and Israelis. Upon assuming responsibility, the Civil Administration issued a tender for the completion of the planning, construction and operation of the facility, which is currently underway," COGAT said.
The Binyamin Regional Council said it is prepared to take over management of the facility.
Political considerations, under a legal guise
Israel Ganz , head of the Binyamin Regional Council and chairman of the Yesha Council, told JNS, "Despite a massive financial investment in establishing the facility years ago, political considerations, under a legal guise, prevented its operation and led to widespread environmental pollution. I hope we will be allowed as a local authority to operate the facility soon and prevent further pollution of this magnificent area for the residents of Ofra and all surrounding communities."
Itzhak (Itche) Meir, the founder and former head of the Samaria Association of Cities for Environmental Quality, which develops ecological-friendly plans for 15 municipalities in Samaria, Binyamin and the Jordan Valley, told JNS he is well aware of the environmental damage taking place near his home community of Ofra.
“The main problem with infrastructure projects in the area is because of the political realities. Here we have Areas A (under Palestinian Authority. control), B (P.A. municipal and Israeli security control) and C (Israeli control), and we don’t know what is state land and who has ownership. That is why the government stopped the opening of the sewage treatment plant,” he said
However, Meir, one of the founders of the community of Ofra and a retired environmental engineer, said he was now confident that after 16 years of delays, the plant will be up and running, albeit it will still take some time.
“The tender was just issued, then the Civil Administration will make decisions and pick a company to run it, and there will be planning involved. So I see the plant opening in another year and a half. But there certainly is progress,” he said.
Naomi Kahn, director of the International Division of Regavim, a research-based think tank dedicated to preserving Israel’s resources and sovereignty, told JNS, “Recent progress toward activation of the Ofra sewage treatment facility is both a gratifying and infuriating illustration of the challenges we face and the methods we employ to change the situation on the ground and to impact policy moving forward.”
She explained, “For more than 16 years, raw sewage has been poisoning the streams and soil shared by Jewish and Arab residents of the Binyamin region and beyond—the direct result of successive Israel governments' failure to take responsibility and to prevent foreign-funded lawfare campaigns from laying our country to waste.
“At long last, a tender for bids to operate the long-idle facility has been published, and we look forward to the day that the residents of the Binyamin region and the entire Land of Israel who share the air, water and soil can finally enjoy the most basic of all rights: the right to a clean and healthy environment,” Kahn said.
“Environmental protection is not a sprint, it’s a marathon,” Werker said. “At Green Now we understand that reversing years of environmental neglect and abuse requires patience. Progress is slow, but our commitment to our objectives is unwavering. The tender for operation of the sewage plant is a triumph of perseverance and a testament to our commitment to the environmental health of the Land of Israel."
