A proposal published April 26 recommends shutting down entirely petrochemical activities at Haifa Bay. An interministerial committee of the National Economic Council at the prime minister’s office recommended closing down the petrochemical and fertilizer industries in the bay as soon as possible. No specific date was mentioned in the proposal, but the committee recommended the closing should be achieved within the next decade.

Still, head of the National Economic Council Avi Simhon told the press after the publication of the proposal that he would like to see the shutting done happening within five to six years, and would consider it a failure if the operation takes as along as a decade.

The committee further recommended to establish a committee of director generals from relevant government ministries to follow up on whichever plan is adopted for shutting down polluting industries at Haifa Bay, identifying economic and administrative obstacles on the way to implementing such a plan and cutting red tape. The committee wrote that two years from now a detailed timeline should be established for shutting down the petrochemical activities and for completing new zoning and urban planning in the spaces that would be vacated.

In its proposal, the committee points out several reasons for evacuating the petrochemical industry from Haifa. There is the pollution, of course. Haifa Bay is home to petrochemical plants, large depots of crude oil and refineries. Together with two existing ports and a third one in planning stages, Haifa Bay is considered one of Israel’s most conspicuous polluting spots. The ministry for environmental protection has been registering for years high rates of polluting particles in the air of the city in general, and the environment of the Bay in particular. Data by the Health Ministry indicates a high level of respiratory problems and even malignant diseases and congenital malformations related to air pollution.