Green group slams big parties for being the biggest litterers

Despite repeated calls to authorities, attempts to draw attention to the election pollution ignored.

By EHUD ZION WALDOKS
kadima campaign banner 248 88 (photo credit: Courtesy)
kadima campaign banner 248 88
(photo credit: Courtesy)
The parties that garnered the most seats in the Knesset elections were also the biggest polluters of public spaces during their campaigns. That's the conclusion that emerges from The Council for a Beautiful Israel's campaign to prevent parties from posting materials illegally on trees, bridges, poles, fences and other restricted areas. The council found that Kadima, Likud, Israel Beiteinu, Shas and the National Union were particularly egregious in putting up campaign propaganda just about anywhere. Other offenders included Labor, United Torah Judaism, Meretz, Habayit Hayehudi, Tzomet, Tzabar, the Gil Pensioners Party and even the Greens Party. Despite repeated calls to the authorities, the council's attempts to draw attention to the election pollution were ignored, council CEO Eshel Segal has said. Throughout the national elections, teams of volunteers and council staff roamed the country, monitoring the proliferation of party flyers and banners. They reported violations to the authorities and photo-documented violations repeatedly. There are four laws that specifically prohibit placing notices in public spaces, along highways and in open areas; there are boards designated for posting such notices legally. "It's a shame that specifically those who aspire to lead the country are those who vandalize its open spaces. The least they can do now to correct the environmental damage they caused during this short election period is to take responsibility and clean up the remnants of their campaign propaganda," Segal demanded. Meanwhile, the parties may have taken a step in the right direction regarding clean-up. Amnir Recycling Industries of the Niyar Hadera conglomerate has contracted with most of the parties to collect all of the leftover campaign materials. Each party's local branches will send the remnants to the party's main headquarters, where Amnir will pick it up and recycle it. The company said it expected to collect more than 15 tons of paper products. A separate company won the tender to collect and recycle leftover paper products from all of the voting booths. Regarding illegally placed placards, the Jerusalem Municipality said city inspectors would be removing all of them, as well as fining parties. However, a municipality spokesman pointed out that most of the pirate banners were made of plastic and therefore were not recyclable.