Approved: Israel will be compensated for the pollution that hit it's shores in February

The International Fund for Compensation from Oil Pollution has approved the Ministry of Environmental Protection's request for compensation for the extensive tar pollution that hit the shores of Israel in February. All member states of the Fund's Board of Directors unanimously supported the proposal of the Fund's Director and the Secretariat to approve compensation payments to Israel for the damage to the beaches. Israel, which has been a member of the fund since 2006, estimated the direct expenses as a result of the pollution at NIS 50 million, with the next step being the establishment of an appraisal committee that will give the fund an appraisal of the payment.
According to an investigation conducted by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the evidence pointed to the source of the pollution - a crude oil tanker called Emerald, which according to the analysis spilled tens of tons or more of crude oil about 130 kilometers off the coast of Israel and caused coastal pollution, between 1 and 1. February 2nd. It was not possible to exhaust proceedings against the tanker and its owner, who also turned out to be uninsured.
The Minister of Environmental Protection, Tamar Zandberg, welcomed the decision and thanked the citizens, organizations and authorities who joined the operation to clean up the beaches after the environmental disaster. She added that "the damage to the marine environment and animals as a result of the tar incident was significant, and the incident underscores our position: it is better to prevent damage to the source and move quickly to renewable energies, at the expense of transporting crude oil at sea."
Rani Amir, director of the national unit for marine protection of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, who represented Israel at the meeting, said that "after the approval of the board of directors of the International Fund we can get reimbursement of financial expenses incurred to the state and local authorities." It will be determined by the fund's staff, as well as the principles of receiving the compensation, the target audiences, the schedules and the mechanism for monetary compensation. "
The documents presented to the fund's board of directors included findings from tests and samples of crude oil off the coast of Israel, findings from investigations conducted by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, marine model findings by the Institute for Marine and Lake Research and satellite data collected by the Ministry of Environmental Protection.